A Dangerous Path
by Don't-just-don't
Summary: Bilbo and Bonnie Baggins, Halfling's of The Shire, find themselves joining the Company of the most unlikely creatures. Dwarves. But Bonnie's not so 'likely' herself. She's got a secret to hide, one that could possibly effect the growing relationship between her and another certain black haired archer... Kili/OC. I own nothing. Sucky summary, good story kind've deal. Enjoy...
1. Prologue

**Finally a Hobbit story. Been meaning to write one for ages and I finally got it started. Hope you enjoy and please review! Kili/OC**

Bonnie Baggins, younger sister of Bilbo Baggins, wasn't what everybody thought her out to be. Most assumed her to be a regular average everyday Hobbit like all the others. But in truth, she was much more.

Bilbo wasn't her _real _brother, given she was 'adopted.' The only reason they had come to think of each other in a brotherly sisterly way, was that when he was a tween, she had been found by him and his parents passed out in a nearby park, when she was a young girl.

They had taken her in and given her a home, and a family, and from that point on, she was never alone. She hadn't known what had happened to her, only that her parents had been slaughtered by a pack of Orcs, and that her father had hidden her in the basement. She remembered crawling out of the small room below the floorboards and seeing her mother with her skull split down the middle, her father with an axe in his back, and one of her sisters with a slit across her throat. She had no idea at all what happened to her cousin Beralic, who had stayed the night with them.

The only think she could do was silently mourn for her family as she crawled from the massacre into the dark night streets of the outskirts of Bree. She had gone numb the moment she saw them dead on the floor, and she didn't even have the strength to cry until she had collapsed in a small meadow filled with trees. All she had with her were the clothes on her back and an opal ring around her small finger, which she had only ended up throwing away from the pain it reminded her of.

But there was another thing that made her different, something extra that was so unique only a few living things in the whole of Middle-Earth had it, or used to have it. Now there was only one… Bonnie.

The ability to _control. _The control of all living things, not the crap that people convinced themselves was important. But _this _was important. She could control most anything she wished… The wind, the water, the earth, the fire, anything! As long as it was living, she could do it. This was because she was a Mage, a Mage of Nature.

She could make the animals do her bidding, the trees whisper to her in strange tongues that she could still understand, the water follow her every command…

And the ability to change _herself. _One moment she could be her normal self, the next a soaring bird. And it didn't have to be changing to an animal. She could change her appearance, though she couldn't control it. It was her hair that changed. When she used fire her hair would go red, and the same with water, white and earth, green and wind, blue. Though it faded back to its normal colour the moment she stopped, she was still sometimes left with small streaks of the colour. The only problem with using her powers was, with some of them, if she used it to much it would slowly begin to drain her energy, and stay that way until she rested and got the energy back.

And on the plus side, it slowed down her aging. Her parents had been 159 years of age, but they looked the way a thirty year old Human would look, young and youthful. Bonnie didn't quiet remember her age, but she knew it was somewhere from seventy to seventy-five, though she held the appearance of a 25 year old human. Though Bilbo and his parents had found her some 50 years ago, when she had the appearance of a 10 year old.

Mage's didn't have the appearance of amazing mighty wizards and witches. In fact, the only difference between them and Hobbit's were the feet. They were normal sized, in proportion to their bodies, and completely hairless, unlike the large hairy feet of the Inhabitants of Hobbiton.

But nobody knew the amazing things she could do, not even Bilbo, the one person in the wold she was closest to. Her father, the _real _one, had drilled it into her mind to not let anyone know, telling her to be a good girl and keep it all in, fight back the urge until she was ready to use it. But hers were the strongest powers he had seen, stronger than his even.

_But back to reality…_

**This is just a small prologue, so I thought first up, I'd give you two chapters to get you started. I'm going to be updating every Sunday, so look forwards to seeing you again, after the next chapter of course.**


	2. A Feast for Dwarves

**Welcome back, I'm very happen to see you again. I don't know if anyone had reviewed, but if you have, thank you very much, I appreciate it. Hope you're enjoying this so far, otherwise why else would you be here, right?**

**Anyway, remember to R&R, if you have the time. Thanks. **

Bonnie was quietly enjoying herself beside her brother on the small bench outside their shared Hobbit-Hole, with a Pipe full of Passionflower. She didn't bother shaping her smoke into rings, or any other shape, instead simply laying across the long bench with her head beside Bilbo's legs, her feet draped over the edge of the seat.

She had just blown the smoke out through her small straight nose when she heard Bilbo sniffle slightly, and she opened one eye to see him staring up at something. Bonnie stretched and sat up, turning to see who was there. She squinted her eyes to see past the sun and spotted a very tall, very _old_ man with a long colourless beard dressed in grey robes, in his hands a long wooden staff.

"Good morning," Bilbo said, sounding uncomfortable.

"What do you mean?" The man asked. "Do you mean to wish me a good morning, or do you mean that it is a good morning whether I want it or not? Or, perhaps you mean to say that you feel good on this particular morning. Or are you simply stating that this is a morning to be good on?"

Bilbo blinked in confusion, and said finally, "All of them at once, I suppose." The man looked slightly disapproving at Bilbo, who was continuing to look confused and bewildered.

"Can we help you?" Bonnie asked quickly to make up for Bilbo's silence.

"That remains to be seen. I'm looking for someone to share in an adventure," He answered.

"An adventure?" Bilbo asked, while Bonnie looked increasingly excited. "I don't imagine anyone west of Bree would have much interest in adventures. Nasty, disturbing, uncomfortable things. Make you late for dinner, hmm mm."

"Bilbo," Bonnie whispered urgently, not wanting him to pass up such an opportunity.

Bilbo got up quickly and went to his mail box, checking through it and flipping through his mail, clucking slightly. He looked completely uncomfortable with the fact that the man, who was beginning to look familiar, was still standing there. He puffed his pipe in vexation. Finished with the mail, he gestured for Bonnie to go inside, and he started walking up the stairs.

"Good morning," Bilbo said once more as he was half way up the stairs.

"To think that I should have lived to be good-morninged by Belladonna Took's son, as if I were selling buttons at the door," he said.

"Beg your pardon?" Bilbo asked in surprise.

"You've changed, and not entirely for the better, Bilbo Baggins."

"I'm sorry, do I know you?" Bilbo asked, becoming increasingly annoyed.

"Well, you know my name, although you don't remember I belong to it. I'm Gandalf! And Gandalf means…me."

Bilbo looked down, his mind reeling, while Bonnie stared up in shock at Gandalf. She couldn't believe she didn't recognise him!

"Gandalf…not Gandalf, the wandering Wizard, who made such excellent fireworks! Old Took used to have them on Midsummer's Eve. Ha, ha! Well. Hmm, I had no idea you were still in business."

Bilbo puffed on his pipe and started shuffling through the mail again, while Bonnie held her pipe halfway up to her mouth, too excited to do much else.

"And where else should I be?" Gandalf asked.

"Ha, Ha, Hm, Hmm…" was all Bilbo got out.

"Well, I'm pleased to find you remember something about me, even if it's only my fireworks. Well that's decided. It will be very good for you two, and most amusing for me. I shall inform the others," Gandalf said, and Bonnie exchanged a glance with the Bilbo.

"Inform the who?" Bilbo asked. "What? No. No. No! Wait. We do not want any adventures here, thank you. Not today, not-mm. I suggest you try over the hill or across the water." Bilbo hurried up the stairs, turned quickly and said, "Good morning."

Then he gestured to Gandalf with his pipe and disappeared into Bag End, and they could hear the dead bolt locking.

"Just shut me out, why don't you," Bonnie called sarcastically up to the Hobbit-Hole. She turned to Gandalf and said in a clear voice to the wizard.

"I'll go on an adventure."

Gandalf smiled and said, "Well of course you would, Bonnie Baggins. It seems this adventure will have two extra company." Then Gandalf strode up the foot-steps, his tall body shielding her from view, and he scratched something on the door. Suddenly, he turned to the window, and stared in for a second, then turned around and came back down to the gate.

He nodded once at Bonnie and left, disappearing around the corner of Bag End. Bonnie stared for a few seconds with an eyebrow cocked, then went up to the front door of Bag End.

"Bilbo, are you gonna leave me out here all day and night?" she asked, tapping her foot with her hands on her hips. A few moments later, the door opened and Bonnie walked in, annoyed.

"Sorry, Bonnie," Bilbo said, "Is he gone?"

"Yes, he's gone. Bilbo, he's not gonna bite you. It's Gandalf!" She said, throwing her hands out to the side.

"Yes well, I don't plan on going on any adventures." He looked at her warily. "And I hope you aren't either."

Bonnie smiled, and cracked her fingers behind her back. "Don't be so sure, brother mine." She grinned, and turned, before facing him again.

"Are you going to get some fish for dinner?" she asked.

Bilbo nodded hesitantly, not wanting to leave with the chance that the wizard could still be out there, and grabbed his blue coat from the coat-rack, pulling it over his shoulders. He took his small pouch of money and left Bonnie with a small wave and a promise that he would back soon.

She smiled as he left the door, and waited a few moments to make sure he had gone before skipping down to her room, where there was a small window pocking just over the hill. Bonnie stared at it for a moment, before jumping onto her desk that was beneath it, and pushing it open. She shimmed through into the refreshing sunlight, and with a small ripple passing down over her skin, and a hot then cold feeling, a dark black wolf stood in her place.

Bonnie trotted calmly down the side of Bag End, her mind blank of everything but how nice the day was as she headed towards the small forest that she had been found in. She always went back there whenever she got the chance. The feeling that it gave her whenever she was there, of the hope she felt when Bilbo and his parents found her that day and welcomed her into their home. Eastfarthing woods would always be special to her.

She moved under the canopy of leaves towards her favourite tree, a large thick one with a grove set deep into its bark. Bonnie settled into it, only her head and paws pocking out of the hole as orange leaves crackled beneath her weight, and slowly fell into a light doze, her ears pricked still, just in case she needed to make a quick retreat.

But she did, however, wake with a small grunt to the sun shining powerfully into her eyes. She growled softly, and stood to her paws, shaking out her backside and stretching to wake herself up fully. Then she turned into her Mage form, and with a slight flick of wrist that sent a strand of forest green down her curly hair, the canopy thickened above her, and she settled down once more, not bothering to change back to the wolf form just yet.

She awoke again just as the sun was setting, and feeling completely refreshed and calm, Bonnie changed back to the dark wolf and ran back the way she came towards Bag End. She guessed that Bilbo would be making his way back by now, and she didn't want him to get there when she wasn't home.

She moved faster, her legs digging into the ground, and spotted Bag End. She launched herself upwards and through her window, landing expertly on her bed from years of doing the same thing. She had just shifted back to Mage form when she heard the big round green door open and close, and Bilbo's footsteps going to the kitchen.

"Hello Bilbo," Bonnie called down the hall as she left her room. She swiftly moved down to the kitchen, spotting Bilbo taking things from the basket he carried. "What did you get?"

He glanced up and spotted her, then pointed at the bag with a carrot. "Just vegetables and two fish."

"When are you making it?" She asked, already picturing the food nice and cooked and warm. She flipped her long curly hair over one shoulder and absently started braiding it, not noticing Bilbo staring at her hair.

"Why is your hair streaked with green?" he asked in surprise. Though he knew that she could change her appearance, he didn't know about her control of fire, water, wind and earth, and how she could change into animals.

"Oh I was just messing around," she said softly, hoping he wouldn't make any more comments. He just shrugged his shoulders and said.

"It looks nice." It did, the green contrasting nicely with her brown-red hair. She had lots of streaks through her hair, manly red and green, but there were a few odd white and blue streaks that had blended into her hair. After a while the streaks disappeared as well, lasting longer depending on how long she used that particular ability. They usually disappeared after an hour of two.

Bonnie moved back down the hall to her room, rummaging through her drawers for something to wear. Her limited selection of clothing was probably due to the fact that no matter what she did, they were always destroyed on her little expeditions out of Hobbiton

Deciding to get the clothes after her bathing, she left and moved to the washroom, filling the large tub with warm water.

Bonnie settled herself into the soothing water, relaxing her eyelids and breathing in the light passionflower smell that seemed to linger on her skin, of fresh flowers and fruit and the smell of the breeze and rain and fire all mixed together to form one beautifully refreshing scent.

When the water started to go cold she stepped out of the tub on her tiptoes and pulled the plug, watching the water drain away. She took her towel and wrapped it around her body, staring into the mirror. In her opinion, there wasn't much to her, though others always told her she was the most beautiful lass they had ever met.

Sure her hair always seemed to fall in place, and the colour any other lass would die for, and the way her ever changing eyes had that sparkle. Her smile was wide and straight and full of life and her body was petite but curved at all the right places. But she never got any attention, so what was to make her think that they weren't just saying to make her feel better.

She shook out her wet hair and braided it again so it fell over her shoulder, and she pushed back the strands of her hair that weren't long enough for the braid. She stood looking at herself in the mirror, trying to decide what to wear. An image quickly formed in her mind, and with soft footsteps padding against the floor, she went back to her room and searched through her drawers.

She pulled something out of the drawers and dressed, before looking into another mirror. A long dress flowed around her, spreading up to cover her body in soft, brown layers of fabric that faded into a black then a white corset. It fell softly, just brushing her ankles and again fitted her physique perfectly.

Feeling quite good with herself, she left her room, noticing that it was already dark outside. Bilbo was in the kitchen frying up the fish and boiling the vegetables over the stove.

"I'll watch the food while you get ready for dinner," Bonnie said as she entered the kitchen, and sat down at the table. Bilbo nodded and left, and she heard the water start to run in the other room.

Bilbo came back a half hour later as she was checking on the food, and she took it off the flames and separated it onto plates. They sat across from the table, put napkins over their laps, and grabbed a piece of lemon each, squirting it over their fish…

Ring! Ring!

Bonnie and Bilbo looked up at each other in surprise, still with a tight grip of their lemon pieces. They got up in unison and walked cautiously towards the door. Bilbo lent forwards and pulled the door back, revealing a bald, bearded…Dwarve.

The Dwarve turned and bowed slightly. "Dwalin, at you service," he said.

"…Bilbo Baggins, at yours," Bilbo said, tying his robe even tighter. Bonnie looked from Bilbo to Dwalin and curtsied.

"Bonnie Baggins."

"Yes, Gandalf spoke about you," Dwalin said and pushed his way past Bilbo into the Hobbit-Hole without an invitation.

"D-do we know each other?" Bilbo asked in confusions. Dwalin looked at him as though he were a moron.

"No. Which way laddie, lassie? Is it down here?" he asked.

"Is what down where?' Bonnie asked, bewildered.

"Supper. He said there'd be food, and lots of it."

"H-he said? Who said?" Bilbo asked.

Dwalin strode down the hall to the kitchen and sat straight down in Bilbo's chair, pulling the meal towards him. He didn't bother cutting up the fish, instead taking bites straight out of it and shoving an occasional vegetable into his mouth. When he had finished with the meat on the fish, he took a huge bite of the head. Bonnie and Bilbo looked on in repulsion.

Rushing forwards, Bonnie quickly grabbed her own plate and saved it for her and Bilbo to eat. The two of them sat down on the small ledge by the window and picked at the food, though strangely they had lost their appetites.

"Mmmm…very good, this. Anymore?" Dwalin asked.

"What? Uh, oh, yes, yes," Bilbo said, grabbing a plate of muffins from behind him. He moved them over to Dwalin, quickly took two of them, and set the plate down. "Help yourself." Dwalin grabbed one and stuffed in in his mouth.

"Mmmm. It's just that, um. I wasn't expecting company," Bilbo stammered, just as the door rung again. There was silence for a moment, then…

"That'll be the door," Dwalin said, and Bilbo rushed off. Bonnie stayed behind, intrigued by the Dwarve in front of her.

"So why are you here?" she asked, and Dwalin looked up at her as he shoved another muffin in his mouth.

"You'll find out soon enough, little lassie." Dwalin got up and went into the hall, and Bonnie followed him. The Dwarve picked up a jar from the shelf and tried to fit his large hands through the hole, almost breaking the glass.

"Here, let me do it," Bonnie yelled, and grabbed the jar from him, taking out all of the biscuits and putting them in his hands. But suddenly, Dwalin looked up and stopped, smiling as he spotted something. Bonnie looked up and spotted a white bearded Dwarve that was older and shorter than Dwalin.

"Oh ha ha! Evening, brother! Heh, heh," The other Dwarve said. Bonnie made her way to Bilbo and he told her that the new Dwarve was called Balin.

"Oh, by my beard, you are shorter and wider then last we met," Dwalin said, placing his hands on Balin's shoulders.

"Wider, not shorter. Sharp enough for both of us," Balin said. Laughing, they greeted each other amicably, smashing their foreheads together. Bonnie and Bilbo blinked in surprise and wonder.

"Uh, excuse me; Sorry, I hate to interrupt, ah, but the thing is, I'm not entirely sure you're in the right house," Bilbo stammered to the Dwarves.

Ignoring Bilbo, Dwalin and Balin went into the Hobbit's pantry, where they were pouring Ale and examining the food. As they spoke to each other Bilbo continued his speech.

"Have you eaten?" Dwalin asked Balin.

"It's not that I don't like visitors; I-I like visitors as much as the next Hobbit, but I do like to know them before they come visiting," Bilbo said, still being ignored. Bonnie was actually enjoying this, feeling this would be the beginning to a very interesting evening.

"Ah, that looks very nice indeed," Balin said, and Dwalin agreed in an indistinguishable voice.

Balin picked up a lump of cheese and looked at it closely. "What's this?" Dwalin asked.

"I don't know…cheese?"

"The thing is, um-" Bilbo tried to say, but still, they weren't listening.

"It's gone blue," Balin said.

"It's riddled with mould," Dwalin agreed, taking the cheese and throwing it out the pantry passed the still-speaking Bilbo and the ever-silent Bonnie.

"The thing is, um, I, we don't know either of you, in the slightest. I don't mean to be blunt, but, I uh, but I had to speak my mind. I'm sorry," Bilbo said the last part strongly, thinking his speech might have made an impact.

The two dwarves paused and looked back at Bilbo.

"Hm. Apology accepted," Balin said.

"Mm," Bilbo huffed.

"Ah, now fill it up brother, don't stint. I could eat again, if you insist," Balin said as he handed a tankard to Dwalin to be filled up. In the background, Bonnie and Bilbo heard the sound of the doorbell again.

Bonnie and Bilbo huffily made their way to the door, most of the huffing on Bilbo's side. The male Halfling pulled the door open and two young dwarves were standing there, one with a dark blonde hair and a long beard with plaits by his mouth, and the other one, the younger looking one, with dark brown hair and stubble over his jaw.

"Fili," said the blonde one.

"And Kili," said the other.

In unison, they said, "At your service," and bowed deeply. They stopped with the bowing and straightened at the same time. Wide grins stretched across their faces.

"You must be Mr. Boggins," Kili said, smiling brightly and obviously not spotting Bonnie behind him.

"Nope, you can't come in, you've come to the wrong house," Bilbo protested. He tried to close the door, but Kili stepped forwards and stopped it from shutting with his foot and hand.

"What?" he asked. "Has it been cancelled?"

"No one told us," Fili said, moving forwards also.

"Cancel-? No- Nothing's been cancelled," Bilbo said, shaking his head.

"Well that's a relief," Kili said and pushed his way through the door. He finally spotted Bonnie and again bowed, this time lower than he did with Bilbo. Fili, spotting her too, followed his lead.

"My lady, at your service," Kili and Fili said and, charmed, she smirked and curtsied.

"Bonnie Baggins, at yours," she said, and much to her surprise, Fili and Kili grabbed each of her hands and kissed it, kneeling on one knee. Bonnie felt herself blush at the behaviour of these charming Dwarves directed at her, and turned her face against the light so they wouldn't see.

"Bonnie!" Bilbo yelled, and she rolled her eyes and turned away, pulling her hands from their grip.

"Yes, Bilbo, dear," she asked, and Bilbo frowned at her.

Fili moved up and dumped his weapons into Bilbo's arms. "Careful with these, I just had 'em sharpened."

"It's nice, this place," Kili said, looking around. "Did you do it yourself?" he started wiping his muddy shoes on a small chest.

"Ah, no it's been in the family for years. That's my mother's Glory box, could you please not do that?" Bilbo asked frantically, and Kili finally stopped.

"Kili, Fili, come on, give us a hand," Dwalin said as he came out of the Dining room.

"Mister Dwalin," Kili said, and the Dwarves started to laugh.

"Let's shove this in the hallway," Balin suggested, gesturing to the cabinets on either side of the table. "Otherwise well never get everyone in."

"E-everyone?" Bilbo asked. "How many more are there?" The four dwarves started to shift the furniture around to create a meeting-feasting area.

"Oh relax, Bilbo, this is interesting," Bonnie said, and went into the dining room to help move the cabinets. "We can always move them back."

"Where do you want this?' Fili, or Kili, Bonnie couldn't tell asked. The two were carrying a large piece of furniture, and she quickly pointed into the room with the most space.

Suddenly, there was another loud knock coming from the doorway, and Bilbo scampered off, yelling about Dwarves and visitors and too many things in his dining room.

"What's his problem?" Kili said, appearing by her left side, with Fili on her other.

"Dwalin ate his dinner," she said, and they nodded in understanding.

"Well, my lady, it seems we are- What is this?' Before she knew it, Fili had picked up a green strand of her hair between his fingers and was looking at it with sharp eyes. Kili had taken another strand of the green, obviously not noticing the red that blended in much better with her hair.

"I have never seen such a colour of hair," Kili said, twirling it between his fingers.

"You two aren't acting very gentlemanly," she teased, but they obviously took her seriously. The moment the words had left her mouth, they dropped into low bows, apologising immensely.

"I was joking, Kili, Fili, please, have a sense of humour." She pulled them back to their feet with surprising strength and turned to walk away.

Suddenly, a swarm of Dwarves came around the corner and collided into them, and Bonnie, being at the front _and _the smallest, she got the full brunt of it and fell over, throwing her hands out to keep herself from falling face-first.

Luckily however, before she could even hit the ground, hands wrapped around her waist and shoulders and lifted her back to her feet. When her feet were safely planted back on the floor, Bonnie let out a huff and glared at the Dwarves that knocked into her, feeling a fire light up in her eyes. Literally. If you looked close enough there would be little fires in her pupils.

She blinked and they were gone, and the Dwarves in front of her pushed past to the pantry, where Dwalin and Balin already were.

"You alright, my lady?" Fili asked with a hint of concern in his usually cheerful voice. Bonnie looked at him to Kili (Who had been the one to stop her fall), who also looked a bit worried, and she nodded, saying she was fine.

"And can you please not call me 'my lady'?" she added. "My name is Bonnie, and that's what I like to be called."

"Of course, Bonnie," Kili said, bowing again and moving into the pantry. Bonnie crossed her arms with a small fond grin, cocking her hip out to the side.

"He's a bit odd," she observed, and Fili chuckled.

"Any brother of mine would be," he said, then followed his brother to get the food. The group of Dwarves came back and forth from the pantry to the dining room, carrying food and plates and mugs.

"Those are my plates!" Bilbo yelled from the middle of the hallway as the Dwarves swerved to get past him. "Excuse me! Not my wine! Put that back. Put that back! Not the jam, please…Excuse me!"

Bombur, the biggest Dwarve, walked out of the kitchen carrying three wheels of cheese.

"Excuse me," Bilbo said. "A tad excessive, isn't it? Have you got a cheese knife?"

"Cheese knife?" A Dwarve in a funny hat, Bofur, said. "He eats it by the block."

"That's disgusting," Bonnie said, wrinkling her nose in repulsion. Bofur nodded once and looked at her, smiling.

"Well, aren't you pretty," he said, causing her to laugh. "You might be the fairest non-Dwarve I've had the pleasure of meeting." He bowed and took his hat off, taking her hand up and kissing it.

"A true pleasure, my lady," he said, just as Kili and Fili walked past.

"She doesn't like being called that, Bofur," Fili said.

"She's called Bonnie," Kili said, putting emphasis on her name. "Quiet beautiful name, don't you think? Matches her face." He winked at her, and she smirked, winking back. She grinned in triumph as his cheeks coloured.

"He's got it bad," she heard Fili whisper to Bofur and the two nodded before scampering off, Kili coming after them in annoyance. Bonnie turned back, almost bumping into the Dwarve Dori as he said to Gandalf.

"Excuse me, Mr. Gandalf, can I tempt you with a nice cup of chamomile tea?" He asked, pouring a hot brown liquid into a small cup.

"Oh, no thank you, Dori," Gandalf refused, before requesting, "A little red wine for me, I think."

As Dori turned away, Bonnie tapped his shoulder and yelled over the noise, "I'll have some, if you don't mind?" Dori smiled, pleased with her liking of fine teas, and handed over the little cup and saucer. Bonnie took a small sip, smiling at Dori, and he turned to get Gandalf's wine.

She watched, filled with amusement, as Bilbo wrestled a bowl of tomatoes away from Nori, going on about how they were his prized possession. Bifur, the Dwarve with an axe in his head, approached Gandalf and talked to him in Khuzdul and with body motions.

"Yes, you're quite right, Bifur," Gandalf said, and slowly turned away as he murmured, "We appear to be one Dwarve short."

But Dwalin spoke up, leaning against a wall as he sipped at a mug of ale. "He is late, is all," he said. "He travelled north to a meeting of our kin. He will come."

Dori came up to him next, with a little glass of red wine in his hand. "Mr. Gandalf?" he said, getting the wizards attention.

"Hmmm?"

"A little glass of red wine, as requested. It's, eh, got a fruity bouquet." Gandalf, with a small smile, took the glass with a thank you, before drinking it down in one gulp. He looked at the glass sadly afterwards, wanting more.

All the Dwarves, sitting in Bilbo's dining room, had a grand feast with all his food. They were quite rude and messy about it, the lot of them throwing food around. Bofur even threw some food to his brother, Bombur, the latter catching it in his mouth amidst everyone's cheers.

Then everyone began throwing food around. Bilbo walked away in disgust, while Bonnie stayed, watching with humour as Fili walked on top of the table, carrying several cups of ale and knocking aside the food in his way.

"Who wants an ale?" He asked them, and handed them down to the dwarves that did with a loud, "There you go."

"Let him have another drink," Dwalin shouted out, and Fili handed another one down.

"Here you go."

Dwalin, coming up with a _brilliant _idea, poured his ale into Oin's hearing trumpet, and as Oin spluttered in anger, everyone else roared with laughter. Oin put his hearing trumpet to his mouth and blew the ale out of it, making it squeal. One of the dwarves yelled, "On the count of three!" and they pounded their tankards together. Someone counted, "One...! Two!" Then all the Dwarves went quiet and began drinking their ale together, the drink splashing over their mouth and dribbling down their beards and chin.

They finished their drinks, and in the most disgusting and funniest fashion, began burping loudly. Ori, the youngest Dwarve, let out the longest, deepest and loudest burp, much to the cheers and encouragements of his fellow Dwarves.

Bonnie smirked, and with a feeling that this was going to be the most amusing evening, took a sip of her tea.

**So this is the first ****_real _****chapter, so I hoped you enjoyed and that you plan to come back and continue reading. Remember, I own nothing but Bonnie, despite the fact that I wish dearly that she was not all. **

**See toy next Sunday….**


	3. A Tale of Triumph

**So I know I'm back a bit earlier than I said, but I've decided that because its the beginning of the story I need to get up a few more chapters so people get more interest and start reading and reviewing and stuff...**

After their very loud and chaotic dinner, the Dwarves all got to their feet and started wandering around, chatting amicably with each other while Bilbo grumbled and stomped around the house. Bonnie watched him from in between Kili and Fili as he stomped through the living room into the kitchen. She heard him yell from the other room,

"Excuse me that is a doily, not a dishcloth!"

Bonnie snorted with laughter, and took a long drag from her pipe. The smell of Passionflower smoke drifted through her mouth and she blew it back out through her nose. Kili and Fili watched as she took another drag and blew smoke rings out of her mouth.

"Oi, give us a puff," Fili said, reaching over with an expecting hand for her pipe. She handed it over, hesitating at first given it held much importance to her, and he grabbed it and took a small puff. His eyes widened in surprise straight away, and he looked at the pipe for a moment longer before slowly handing it back.

"What is that?" he asked her, and she looked down at it and back again before answering.

"Passionflower. Nice, isn't it?" Fili nodded, just as Kili leaned over and took a quick puff.

"Hey!" Bonnie protested, pulling the pipe away from him and giving Fili another chance to take his own puff once more. "Stop it!" she shouted. "I don't have much left and it's not blooming for another few days!"

Fili and Kili sheepishly smiled, and as penance Kili gestured at his own pipe for her to take a puff from. Bonnie rolled her eyes and leaned forwards, the smoke flooding into her mouth and lungs. It tasted woodsy but florally at the same time, and of course had the smokiness to it. Bonnie looked up at him, and asked,

"Wireweed?" Kili didn't get a chance to answer, however, because they heard Bilbo shout quietly,

"I don't want to get used to them. The state of my kitchen! There's mud trod into the carpet, they've pillaged the pantry. I'm not even going to tell you what they've done in the bathroom; They've all but destroyed the plumbing. I don't understand what they're doing in my house!"

"Excuse me." They heard Ori say, and Fili got to his feet to go join them, "I'm sorry to interrupt, but what should I do with my plate?"

"Here you go, Ori, give it to me," Fili said, and took the plate. He threw it to Kili, who had just gotten up and walked to the door to the kitchen, and he threw it behind his back to Bifur, who was standing at the sink in the kitchen. Bifur caught it behind his back, without even looking at it. Kili, Fili, and other Dwarves began throwing the plates, bowls, and utensils to each other, eventually throwing them to the sink to be washed. As dishware flew through the air, Gandalf ducked to avoid getting hit, just as Bonnie eventually made her way to his side.

"Oh!" The Wizard gasped.

Bilbo shouted at the Dwarves, anger and worry woven through his voice, "Excuse me, that's my mother's West Farthing crockery, it's over a hundred years old!"

The Dwarves at the table began rhythmically drumming on the tablet with utensils and their fists.

"And can can you not do that?" Bilbo asked, but when they didn't stop he yelled, "You'll blunt them!"

"Ooh, d'hear that, lads?" Bofur asked. "He says we'll blunt the knives."

Kili began singing and the other Dwarves joined him, as they continued throwing the dishware.

_"__Blunt the knives, bend the forks_

_Smash the bottles and burn the corks_

_Chip the glasses and crack the plates_

_That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!_

_Cut the cloth and tread on the fat_

_Leave the bones on the bedroom mat_

_Pour the milk on the pantry floor_

_Splash the wine on every door_

_Dump the crocks in a boiling bowl_

_Pound them up with a thumping pole_

_When you've finished, if any are whole_

_Send them down the hall to roll_

_..._

_That's what Bilbo Baggins hates!"_

Bilbo huffed up in anger, only to find all the dishes stacked neatly and cleanly. The Dwarves and Gandalf laughed loudly, Bonnie just grinning as she took a puff from her Pipe, once more beside Kili.

But suddenly, there was three loud knocks from the front door, and everyone fell silent as they glanced towards the door.

"He is here," Gandalf said. The Dwarves, Hobbit, Wizard and Mage all got to their feet, slowly crowding out of the kitchen and into the front hall. Standing between the Durin brothers, Bonnie stretched up as high as she could on her toes to see over the shoulder of Dwalin, who was stood in front of her. But there wasn't really much to see, given that Gandalf was covering most of the doorway.

The Wizard quickly opened the door, and even from her spot she could see Thorin Oakenshield, King under the Mountain, turn to look up at the great Wizard.

"Gandalf," He greeted, stepping through the doorway into Bag End. "I thought you said this place would be easy to find. I lost my way, twice. Wouldn't have found it at all had it not been for that mark on the door."

"Mark?" Bilbo asked, beginning to sound offended as he stepped out of the crowd to address Thorin. "There's no mark on that door. It was painted a week ago!"

"There is a mark; I put it there myself," Gandalf interrupted, before Bilbo or Thorin could say anything _disrespectful_ to each other. "Bilbo Baggins, allow me to introduce the leader of our company, Thorin Oakenshield."

"So, this is the Hobbit," Thorin began, after a brief moment of glancing over to analyse the Hobbit. "Tell me, Mr. Baggins, have you done much fighting?"

"Pardon me?" Bilbo asked, with a raised eyebrow.

"Axe or sword? What's your weapon of choice?"

Bilbo, confused as he was, answered with a smug little smile that got him no-where, "Well, I have some skill at Conkers, if you must know, but I fail to see why that's relevant."

"Thought as much," Thorin said, and scoffed, "He looks more like a grocer than a burglar."

The Dwarves all laughed, but Bonnie glared and stepped forwards to face him off.

"Excuse me, _King under the Mountain, _and yes I know who you are." She took a moment to be pleased at the look of surprise on the Dwarves face. "You don't just come into somebodies home, _uninvited, _and start being rude. He's your host, do don't forget that."

Thorin looked evenly at her, his gaze unwavering as he asked, "And who are you, lassie?"

Bonnie stared strongly back, before replying, "Bonnie Baggins."

"Well, Gandalf did mention a Lass, one with a heart of pure gold, but he neglected to mention a name. Tell me, Bonnie Baggins, what makes you worthy of this quest?"

_Well, _Bonnie thought, _at least he doesn't have a problem with me being a woman. _

Bonnie smiled softly, and said, "You have yet to see me with a bow and arrow or knife, Master Thorin. Until that day comes, do not judge to harshly."

Thorin stared at her for one long moment, before giving a small smirk and disappearing into the other room. The other Dwarves trailed after him, along with Gandalf and Bilbo, but Fili and Kili remained behind, immediately rushing to her side as they came out of earshot.

"Why'd you do that?" Fili asked her, while Kili said.

"That was very dangerous, you shouldn't talk to him that way."

Bonnie scoffed, and said defensively, "He shouldn't have talked to my brother that way." But still, the looks of concern on both of their young faces had her promising, "Fine, I won't talk to him that way again."

Kili and Fili both smiled at that, and taking her arms gently, led her back into the Dining room, where Thorin was eating a small meal of bread, cheese, and a touch of ham. He took a sip from his ale as Balin spoke, asking, "What news from the meeting in Ered Luin? Did they all come?"

"Aye. Envoys from all seven kingdoms," Thorin answered, and despite that tone of disappointment in his voice that was quiet obvious, the Dwarves all murmured their joy.

"What do the Dwarves of the Iron Hills say?" Dwalin asked, "Is Dain with us?"

Thorin took a long sip of ale before he answered, "They will not come."

And now they released mumbles of disappointment. But they were only added to as Thorin declared, "They say this quest is ours, and ours alone."

But Bilbo interrupted them, coming forwards to look over Thorin's shoulder, "You're going on a quest?"

"Bilbo, my dear fellow," Gandalf said, and obviously having something to show them, asked, "let us have a little more light."

Bilbo quickly brought a candle to the table, where Gandalf had spread out a map which was in his pocket. Bonnie, sitting again between her new favourite Dwarves, stretched her back as far as it could go, not risking using her skin-changer powers to elongate her spine as that of a snake would. She couldn't risk letting the Dwarves know, less they mistrust her for the remainder of their time together. The thought, despite the fact that they had only just met that night, brought disappointment and denial to her heart, especially at the thought of Fili and Kili. She had come to like them very much.

"Far to the East, over ranges and rivers, beyond woodlands and wastelands, lies a single solitary peak," Gandalf said, bringing her forth from her thoughts.

Bilbo leaned over Thorin's shoulder to look at the map, reading, "The Lonely Mountain."

"Aye," Gloin spoke up, "Oin has read the portents, and the portents say it is time."

"Ravens have been seen flying back to the mountain as it was foretold," Oin explained. "When the birds of yore return to Erebor, the reign of the beast will end."

Bilbo looked up in concern at the use of the word beast, and asked, "Uh, What beast?"

Bofur smiled and looked casually over at Bilbo, saying, "Well that would be a reference to Smaug the Terrible, chiefest and greatest calamity of our age. Airborne fire breather, teeth like razors, claws like meat-hooks, extremely fond of precious metals "

"Yes, I know what a dragon is," Bilbo interrupted him, but he himself was interrupted as Ori stood up and declared.

"I'm not afraid! I'm up for it. I'll give him a taste of the Dwarveish iron right up his jacksie."

Several of the Dwarves shouted in agreement, while Dori just grabbed onto Ori's shirt and shouted, "Sit down!"

Balin spoke up then, using wise words as he said, "The task would be difficult enough with an army behind us. But we number just thirteen, and not thirteen of the best, nor brightest."

The Dwarves started objecting, saying things like, "Hey, who are you calling dim?" "Watch it!", and "No!"

"What did he say?" Oin shouted, holding his trumpet to his ear.

Fili called out as the noise died down, "We may be few in number, but we're fighters, all of us, to the last Dwarve!"

And Kili encouraged, "And you forget, we have a wizard in our company. Gandalf will have killed hundreds of dragons in his time."

"Oh, well, now, uh, I- I- I wouldn't say that, I " Gandalf stuttered, for what seemed to be the first time lost for words as the Dwarves started shouting at him.

"How many, then?" Dori asked.

"Uh, what?" Gandalf said.

"Well, how many dragons have you killed? Go on, give us a number!" Dori shouted once more.

Gandalf embarrassedly started coughing on his pipe smoke, and the Dwarves jumped to their feet, arguing about the number of dragons Gandalf had killed. Their voices all morphed together to create one loud and incredibly frustrating jumble, which was only silence when Thorin jumped up in anger and bellowed, silencing the rest.

"Shazara!" Thorin roared, getting to his feet as he shouted the Dwarveish word for silence. "If we have read these signs, do you not think others will have read them too? Rumours have begun to spread. The dragon Smaug has not been seen for 60 years. Eyes look east to the Mountain, assessing, wondering, weighing the risk. Perhaps the vast wealth of our people now lies unprotected. Do we sit back while others claim what is rightfully ours? Or do we seize this chance to take back Erebor? Du Bekâr! Du Bekâr!" _At arms! At arms!_

All the Dwarves shouted their cheers, standing to their feet and pumping their fists into the air. They did however settle down, when Balin pointed out.

"You forget: the front gate is sealed. There is no way into the mountain."

But Gandalf seemed to have a solution for everything, as he said, "That, my dear Balin, is not entirely true."

Twiddling his fingers, Gandalf produced a Dwarvish key, ornately wrought. Thorin looked at it in wonder, knowing what it was but still asking.

"How came you by this?"

Gandalf looked at him, then the key, and explained, "It was given to me by your father, by Thrain, for safekeeping. It is yours now." He slowly handed the key over into the Dwarves waiting grasp, and Thorin's hand slowly closed around it as though he were afraid the moment it touched his skin it would burst into flames.

There was silence for a moment which was broken by Fili as he said, "If there is a key, there must be a door."

Gandalf pointed at a few runes on the map with his pipe, and said, "These runes speak of a hidden passage to the lower halls."

"There's another way in!" Kili said in excitement.

"Well, if we can find it," Gandalf sighed, "but Dwarve doors are invisible when closed. The answer lies hidden somewhere in this map and I do not have the skill to find it. But there are others in Middle earth who can. The task I have in mind will require a great deal of stealth, and no small amount of courage. But, if we are careful and clever, I believe that it can be done."

"That's why we need a burglar," Ori pointed out, and Bilbo said in agreement, as though he were suggesting himself for the job.

"Hm, A good one, too. An expert, I'd imagine."

"And are you?" Gloin asked. Bonnie sighed, and pressed her palm to her forehead as she felt a head-ache coming on.

"Am I what?" Bilbo asked in confusion.

Oin smiled, and obviously mishearing him, declared, "He said he's an expert! Hey hey!"

Several Dwarves laughed, while Bilbo stuttered, "M Me? No, no, no, no, no. I'm not a burglar; I've never stolen a thing in my life. If you want a burglar ask Bonnie." And it was true, more than a number of times Bonnie had gone into Farmer Maggot's crops and stolen mushroom, carrots and cabbages of all sorts. It had gotten even easier to steal after he got too preoccupied with his newborn son.

"I'm afraid I have to agree with Mr. Baggins. He's hardly burglar material," Balin said, ignoring his little comment about Bonnie as the Hobbit nodded in agreement.

"Aye, the wild is no place for gentlefolk who can neither fight nor fend for themselves," Dwalin said, and Bilbo continued nodding in agreement, whilst the dwarves began arguing, some of them shouting about the uselessness of Bilbo, others about the waste of time, and others about bringing Bonnie along. But Gandalf, growing angry, rose to his full height and cast darkness over the group. He started speaking, his stern voice coming through as the Dwarves stopped to stare at him in awe, and in some cases, fright. Even to the bravest of Dwarves, a wizard was not someone to be reckoned with.

"Enough!" Gandalf thundered, "If I say Bilbo Baggins is a burglar, then a burglar he is." He went back to his normal calm self, before saying, "Hobbits are remarkably light on their feet. In fact, they can pass unseen by most if they choose. And while the dragon is accustomed to the smell of Dwarve, the scent of Hobbit is all but unknown to him, which gives us a distinct advantage. You asked me to find the last members of this company, and I have chosen Mr. and Miss. Baggins. There's a lot more to them than appearances suggest, and they have a great deal more to offer than any of you know, including themselves. You must trust me on this."

"Very well," Thorin sighed. "We will do it your way."

"No, no, no," Bilbo protested.

"Give them the contract." Bonnie jumped excitedly to her feet and scampered quickly and quietly to the front of the table.

"Please," Bilbo said, and tugged on Bonnie's sleeve.

"Alright, we're off!" Bofur shouted, as Balin handed Bilbo a long contract.

"It's just the usual summary," Balin said, "of out-of-pocket expenses, time required, remuneration, funeral arrangements, so forth."

"Funeral arrangements?" Bilbo asked.

Bilbo, reading parts of the contract out loud, said, "Terms: Cash on delivery, up to but not exceeding one fourteenth of total profit, if any. Seems fair. Eh, Present Company shall not be liable for injuries inflicted by or sustained as a consequence thereof including but not limited to lacerations ... evisceration … incineration?"

"Oh, aye, he'll melt the flesh off your bones in the blink of an eye," Bofur said with a smile, taking a puff of his pipe. Bilbo looked at him, a tad breathless, while Bonnie looked back and forth from in between them.

"You all right, laddie?" Balin asked, as Bilbo bent over, nauseous and pained.

"Uh, yeah...Feel a bit faint," he gasped, while Bonnie came to his side and started rubbing his back comfortingly.

"Think furnace with wings," Bofur continued.

"Air, I- I- I need air."

"Flash of light, searing pain, then Poof! You're nothing more than a pile of ash."

Bilbo breathed heavily, trying to compose himself as the others watched. He stood up straight, smiled, and said, "Hmmm. Nope," before promptly falling to the floor in a faint.

"Ah, very helpful, Bofur," Gandalf sighed, while Bonnie jumped to Bilbo's side to look at him in worry. She pressed a hand to his sweaty forehead, feeling his temperature, and with the Dwarves not being able to see anything from behind her, she breathed an icy breathe onto his face, effectively cooling him down.

Dwalin sighed and got to his feet, moving around the table to pick up Bilbo's unconscious form and transfer him to a chair. As he passed Bonnie, he stopped, said, "He'll be fine, lassie," ruffled her hair with his spare hand, and continued on to the living room. Bonnie got back to her feet, watching after him, and barely noticed as Balin put a quill into her hand and led her over to the table to sign the contract. She quickly signed her name with a quick flourish of her wrist, before disappearing around the corner to sit with Bilbo.

She sat with the unconscious Bilbo until he woke, and only then, after he assured her multiple times that he was fine, did she get back to her feet and move to the kitchen, putting a kettle of water over the fire to boil for tea.

She crouched on the ground, her arms crossed over her legs as she stared into the flames that created shadows over her eyes, and didn't notice as Kili and Fili came up behind her and stood in silence.

Slowly but comfortingly, Kili and Fili knelt down beside her, and both put an arm around her shoulders. Bonnie sighed softly, and turned her head into Kili's shoulder, her head pounding as she thought of Bilbo on this journey. Of course, she knew he could be brave when he wanted to be, but she didn't know how he would fare on a real adventure, with real dangers and real threats.

The thought was sending her mad, and she was incredibly grateful when the kettle whistled and she reached to grab it, her hand wrapping around the hot metal without a second pause. She heard Kili and Fili give shouts of warning, but it was too late. She pulled the kettle from the hook, and turned to look at them.

"What?"

They stared at her as though she had three eye balls, and she stared back just as confused. What did she do?

"How the bloody hell is your hand not burning?" The spoke together, a sign of their brotherly traits showing through, and Bonnie looked down at her hand and back again, before her eyes widened and she lunged to put the kettle down on the table. The moment it was out of her hand, Kili and Fili pounced on her like over-protective mothers, grabbing her hand to examine it. Of course, there was not a single mark there, which once again added to their confusion.

"How on Middle-earth-" Fili was cut off as Gandalf appeared at the front of the kitchen, leaning down so he could look at them and ask.

"Is that tea quite finished yet?"

Bonnie looked at him for a moment, the wizard with a knowing glint in his eye as he caught her stare, before jumping into action, bustling around to prepare it as she called back, "Yes, of course, one moment."

She finished setting up the tea, and pouring a mug for her brother, she scampered into the living room once more, handing the cup over to Bilbo with a small smile that hid the panic in her eyes from the small slip she'd had with Kili and Fili. She couldn't believe she had been so careless, letting them see her do that! She should have been more careful!

She quickly sat in the seat across from Bilbo, rubbing her forehead to try and abate the migraine pounding at her skull. She lay like that for a few minutes, which turned into ten, which turned into an hour. She didn't quiet realise it had been that long until Bilbo stuttered, his hand clutched around the now cold mug,

"I'll be all right, let me just sit quietly for a moment."

Gandalf, she now realised, was standing over them, and he said, "You've been sitting quietly for far too long. Tell me; When did doilies and your mother's dishes become so important to you? I remember a young Hobbit who always was running off in search of Elves and the woods, who'd stay out late, come home after dark, trailing mud and twigs and fireflies. A young Hobbit who would have liked nothing better than to find out what was beyond the borders of the Shire. The world is not in your books and maps; It's out there."

He seemed to be leaving her alone, given she had already signed the damned contract.

"I can't just go running off into the blue," Bilbo shouted, defending himself. "I am a Baggins, of Bag End."

"You are also a Took. Did you know that your great great great great uncle, Bullroarer Took, was so large he could ride a real horse?"

"Yes," Bilbo sighed.

"Well he could! In the Battle of Green Fields, he charged the goblin ranks. He swung his club so hard it knocked the Goblin King's head clean off, and it sailed a hundred yards through the air and went down a rabbit hole. And thus the battle was won, and the game of golf invented at the same time."

Bilbo looked at him, and trying to ease the tension, said softly, "I do believe you made that up."

"Well, all good stories deserve embellishment," Gandalf said. "You'll have a tale or two to tell of your own when you come back."

"Can you promise that I will come back?" Bilbo asked, getting down to the point.

Gandalf sighed, wishing he hadn't asked this question, and answered honestly, "No. And if you do, you will not be the same."

"That's what I thought," Bilbo muttered, "Sorry, Gandalf, I can't sign this. You've got the wrong Hobbit."

Bilbo started down the hall, but he stopped in his tracks as Gandalf called after, "Are you going to leave your sister to go all by herself?" Bilbo visibly froze for a moment, before starting again, his pace much faster.

"It appears we have lost our burglar," Balin sighed, as Bilbo passed him and Thorin. "Probably for the best. The odds were always against us. After all, what are we? Merchants, miners, tinkers, toy makers; Hardly the stuff of legend."

"There are a few warriors amongst us," Thorin said softly, but with a strength to his voice that nobody could deny.

"Old warriors," Balin pointed out softly.

Thorin looked sternly at him. "I will take each and every one of these Dwarves over an army from the Iron Hills. For when I called upon them, they came. Loyalty. Honour. A willing heart. I can ask no more than that."

"You don't have to do this," Balin sighed. "You have a choice. You've done honourably by our people. You have built a new life for us in the Blue Mountains, a life of peace and plenty. A life that is worth more than all the gold in Erebor."

Thorin held out the key Gandalf gave him, and twirled it once in his grasp.

"From my grandfather to my father, this has come to me," he said. "They dreamt of the day when the Dwarves of Erebor would reclaim their homeland. There is no choice, Balin. Not for me."

"Then we are with you, laddie. We will see it done."

The Dwarves all stood, and with Gandalf and Bonnie following, moved to the living room, bringing their pipes along, while Bonnie moved off to the corner of the room to give their Dwarves their moment. She was, however, promptly pulled forwards gently and quickly by Kili and Fili, who once again posted as what appeared to be her guards. Bonnie smiled slightly at that and relaxed as Thorin began his song, the other Dwarves humming and singing along with some parts.

_"__Far over the misty mountains cold_

_To dungeons deep and caverns old_

_We must away ere break of day_

_To find our long forgotten gold_

_The pines were roaring on the height_

_The winds were moaning in the night_

_The fire was red, it flaming spread_

_The trees like torches blazed with light"_


	4. A Means to an End

Bonnie woke up the next morning in her soft bed, her head lying on her lovely goose-feather pillows, and immediately felt her heart sink. She hadn't fallen asleep in her bed last night, how on earth did she get there?

Sighing, she sat up and swung her legs around over the side of the bed. She was however, interrupted in her waking up process, when there was a soft knock on the door, and it opened slightly. Kili and Fili poked their heads in, looking around for a moment before their eyes landed on her, and wide grins split across their faces.

"We were just coming to wake you," Fili said, and he pushed the door open further so they could stand in the doorway. Bonnie looked at them, her eyes clearing of the blur, and she yawned. Kili and Fili cracked a grin at that, not denying how adorable she looked with her hair all messed up, looking all small and cute in her sleeping clothes.

"Yep, just give me a minute to get dressed and I-" The rest of her speech was drowned in one large yawn, which caused the Dwarves to chuckle, and Bonnie to throw the nearest object near her, which just happened to be her _lovely Goose-feather pillow. _Kili caught it easily and threw it right back, smiling all the same as Bonnie grumbled and got to her feet, pushing passed him so she could go to the bathroom.

"Don't let anyone in," she told them both as she closed the door behind her. She started the water into the tub, and moved around while it was filling up, grabbing a towel from the small shelf in the room, and her lovely soaps and shampoos. _I don't know when I'll get another chance to use these, _she thought to herself, _might as well use them now._

Bonnie quickly undressed and lowered herself into the hot water, relaxing against the wooden tub as the water worked at her muscles and quickly woke her up. She only took a small amount of time relaxing, before scrubbing her hair and body clean, doing all of this as fast as she could so she wouldn't keep the other dwarves waiting.

She hopped out of the tub and pulled the plug, before drying herself with the towel, wrapping it around her body, and pulling on her dressing gown. From there, she walked back into the hallway, passed Fili and Kili, back to her room, where she pulled on a pair of black leggings, a brown corset with jacket, a pair of brown boots and woolen lace up gloves. She pulled on her bamboo belted combat boots and finished by placing multiple blades in places all over her person. Blades she had collected over the years in need of protection.

She moved on, grabbing a pack from her closet to start packing necessities, including another pair of clothes, a cloak, another pair of boots, a few more blades and a black basalt axe. She also took a sword, or rather what the big-folk would call a dagger, and put it through the loop of her belt, and pulled a bow and quiver of arrows onto her back _That's good, _she thought, before leaving the small closet where she kept all of the weapons she had purchased over the years. After what had happened to her family, what did you expect?

She left her room, taking one moment to look sadly around at it, and walked with Kili and Fili through halls, only stopping for a moment so Bonnie could grab a bed roll to sleep on. She moved off to the kitchen after that, wrapping up all the left over non-perishables from last night and stuffing them into her pack, along with a canteen of water.

Kili and Fili were waiting for her by the Kitchen door, ready as the other Dwarves were, and only waiting for her. Balin had left the contract in the living room, his name signed along with Thorin's and Bonnie's, and only waiting for Bilbo's name to appear there. But at the present time that wasn't going to happen,

Finished packing, Bonnie had just reached the door with Kili and Fili when she stopped, and raced back to the living room, grabbing a piece of paper and quill along the way. She scribbled down a few words on the paper, placed it on top of the contract, and then raced back to the awaiting Dwarves. Kili and Fili had climbed upon their ponies, and were only waiting for her to join one of them. Gandalf was insistent that Bilbo would come, meaning she would either ride with him, the inexperienced Hobbit, or one of her favourite expert Pony riders. Meaning Fili or Kili.

She had only just finished putting her small pack onto the spare Pony when those particular Dwarves came up behind her, both waiting to see who she would ride with. She glanced between them, a thoughtful look on her face, before climbing quickly atop Fili's horse.

"It's nothing personal," she joked to Kili was looking slightly offended and put down. "I just like him better than you."

Kili frowned, obviously taking her seriously, and looked away towards the front of the road, his face stony. Bonnie looked at him for a moment, wondering why, before she frowned and shakily stood to her feet on the pony's back. Good thing it was barely moving, otherwise she would've fallen onto her ass from the jump she made from Fili's Pony to Kili's.

She landed softly on her feet so as not to hurt the creature, and sat down as quick as she could. Meanwhile, Kili, Fili, Bofur and a few of the other Dwarves were staring at her, slightly impressed. Bonnie waited for them to turn their attention back to the road before she wrapped her arms around Kili's back, both using him to keep herself steady and so she could add more meaning to her whisper,

"It was just a joke Kili, I didn't mean it." He still stared stonily ahead, so she added, "I love you just as much as I love him." That got his attention. He turned his neck so he could look at her, leaning on the side so he could see her fully, and she smiled at him and pressed a kiss to his cheek, hoping he had forgiven her. She hadn't any idea he would've taken her so seriously before. That's something they all had to learn about her, she was rarely serious about anything.

Kili smiled, and blushed slightly, before mumbling something that might've been a "your welcome," and turning back to the front.

The Dwarves, riding their ponies, and Gandalf his horse, trotted through Hobbiton, passing all of the Hobbits that stared, until they reached a path through a wooded area. Bonnie overheard a few words of their conversation, including "waste of time" and "use a hobbit". She frowned at that, still holding confidence that Bilbo would show up, and was only proven right when she heard a yell from behind her.

"Wait! Wait!" Bilbo shouted out to the lot of them, running as fast as he could on his little legs, the contract and Bonnie's note flapping in his hands. Some Dwarves called "Woah!" to stop their ponies, waiting for Bilbo to catch up with them.

"I signed it!" The Hobbit said, handing the contract over to Balin, who took it and inspected it with a pocket glass. He smiled at him, declaring:

"Everything appears to be in order. Welcome, Master Baggins, to the company of Thorin Oakenshield."

The Dwarves and Bonnie all cheered, but Thorin, not looking impressed, ordered, "Give him a pony."

The smile vanished from Bilbo's face, and he protested, "No, no, no, no, that that won't be necessary, thank you, but I I'm sure I can keep up on foot. I I I've done my fair share of walking holidays, you know. I even got as far as Frogmorton once - WAGH!"

Bilbo's speech was cut off as Kili and Fili rode alongside him and picked him up from behind to put him on a pony. Bilbo fidgeted the moment he was set down, and lunged for the reigns. He held them in his grip as though they were going to bite him, looking quite terrified as the Pony neighed and tossed its head.

There was silence as they rode, until Oin shouted, "Come on, Nori, pay up. Go on."

Nori tossed a sack of money to Oin, and more sacks of money began passing between the Dwarves.

"Hey, hey, hey!" Oin cheered, and some of the Dwarves laughed.

"What's that about?" Bilbo called, asking Bonnie's unanswered question. She too was just as confused.

"Oh, they took wagers on whether or not you'd turn up. Most of them bet that you wouldn't," Gandalf said, riding next to Bilbo in font of Kili, Bonnie and Fili.

"What did you think?" Bilbo asked him curiously, but he was answered as Gandalf sighed and caught a pouch of money.

"My dear fellow," Gandalf said, riding forwards, "I never doubted you for a second."

Bilbo smiled slightly, feeling proud and grateful. But the look disappeared as he sneezed loudly. "Ohh. All this horse hair, I'm having a reaction," he said, explaining himself as he dug through his pocket. It was obvious he didn't find what he was looking for, and he looked up in shock to declare, "No, no, wait, wait, stop! Stop! We have to turn around."

The entire company came to a halt, and the Dwarves started objecting and asking what the problem was.

"What on earth is the matter?" Gandalf asked the fumbling Hobbit, turning his horse around so he could face him straight on.

"I forgot my handkerchief!" Bonnie snorted with laughter, resting her head against Kili's back as she struggled to contain her giggles. They were, however, unstoppable, as Bofur tore a strip of cloth from his shirt and tossed it over to Bilbo.

"Here! Use this," Bofur shouted back to him, and Bilbo, giving it a cautious sniff, almost gagged at the smell. He looked at it in disgust, and the rest of the Dwarves roared with laughter and continued on their journey.

"Move on," Thorin shouted.

"You'll have to manage without pocket-handkerchiefs and a good many other things, Bilbo Baggins," Gandalf advised, "before we reach our journey's end. You were born to the rolling hills and little rivers of the Shire, but home is now behind you; The world is ahead."

The Company travelled on for the rest of the day, through towering trees and across sparse fields, around mountain rocks and over dark cliffs. But they eventually came to settle on a clearing on the side of a mountain cliff.

The Dwarves, after tying up their horses, settled down to sleep, rolling out their bed rolls, while Dori and Bifur made a fire. Bombur was in charge of cooking, and he quickly made up a meal of rabbit stew, using three of the rabbits Kili had shot along the way for their dinner.

Kili himself, along with his brother and Bonnie, were sitting lying against the cliff wall, keeping watch by the fire as the other Dwarves slept around them. Only a few were awake, Thorin and Balin, along with Gandalf, sitting quietly while smoking their pipes.

Bonnie too had her pipe out, and was silently taking small puffs of her Passionflower weed, when she heard a scream in the night air. She looked up, eyes wide in terror. She recognised those shrieks. But it appeared Bilbo did not, as he came scampering over to them with a worried look in his eyes.

"What was that?" He asked urgently, looking from Kili to Fili and back again.

"Orcs," Kili answered, looking up and around them as though he expected an Orc to burst through the bushes at them any minute. There was another scream, and Bonnie flinched into Kili's side. All she could see in her mind at that moment was the blood, and hear the cries of her fallen family. Kili looked over at her, slightly concerned, then turned back to face Bilbo, and now Thorin.

"Orcs?" Bilbo asked, terrified, and Fili nodded, a small smirk that couldn't be seen on his face.

"Throat cutters," He said. "There'll be dozens of them out there. The lowlands are crawling with them."

Kili nodded in agreement, and said, not quite noticing the shaking of the small Mage against him, "They strike in the wee small hours, when everyone's asleep. Quick and quiet; No screams, just lots of blood."

Bilbo looked away in fright, then back to Bonnie, noticing her fear. His fright turned into worry, and he moved forwards to Bonnie's side, bringing her to her feet and leading her away.

"You think that's funny?" Thorin scolded his nephews. "You think a night raid by orcs is a joke?"

Kili, seeing of how his words had effected Bonnie, and knowing it was nothing to joke about, said softly, "We didn't mean anything by it."

"No, you didn't," Thorin growled, "You know nothing of the world."

Bilbo was consoling Bonnie off to the side, speaking kind words and reassuring her that he wouldn't let them hurt her. Gandalf, Kili, Fili and now Balin were watching as Bonnie tried to keep herself from hyperventilating, not being able to stop the images of her parents and sister with their bodies broken and bloody from the Orc raid that had killed them. They'd had no warning, and no way to protect themselves. If only they had known a few seconds earlier, they would have had time to defend themselves before the blades came slashing down at them.

But slowly, her breathing evened out, and she pushed the sight to the back of her mind where it would hopefully not bother her again. Bilbo led her back over to her spot beside Kili, and gently sat her back down.

"What's wrong?" Kili asked her immediately, frowning with worry as he wondered why his words had frightened her so badly. He felt the guilt in his chest, and hoping her words would ease it, was greatly disappointed as she just quickly shook her head and rested back against the cliff face, her eyes closed.

Balin obviously spotted the look on his face, and taking it to mean the wrong thing, said, "Don't mind him, laddie. Thorin has more cause than most to hate orcs. After the dragon took the Lonely Mountain, King Thror tried to reclaim the ancient Dwarf kingdom of Moria. But our enemy had got there first.

"Moria had been taken by legions of Orcs lead by the most vile of all their race: Azog, the Defiler. The giant Gundabad Orc had sworn to wipe out the line of Durin. He began by beheading the King. Thrain, Thorin's father, was driven mad by grief. He went missing, taken prisoner or killed, we did not know. We were leaderless. Defeat and death were upon us. That is when I saw him: a young dwarf prince facing down the Pale Orc.

"He stood alone against this terrible foe, his armour rent…wielding nothing but an oaken branch as a shield. Azog, the Defiler, learned that day that the line of Durin would not be so easily broken. Our forces rallied and drove the orcs back. Our enemy had been defeated. But there was no feast, no song that night, for our dead were beyond the count of grief. We few had survived. And I thought to myself then, there is one who I could follow. There is one I could call King."

As Balin told his story, the rest of The Company had slowly risen, and were staring at Thorin in awe as he turned away from his view beyond the cliff.

"But the Pale-Orc?" Bilbo asked, "What happened to him?"

"He slunk back into the hole whence he came. That filth died of his wounds long ago," Thorin growled, and Bonnie froze once more. She jumped to her feet and called after Thorin as he walked away.

"You're wrong!" Thorin turned to glare at her, and growled

"What did you say, lassie?"

Bonnie took a deep breathe, and told him, "Azog the Defiler is not dead. I should know." The Dwarves were all staring at her as she declared, "He slaughtered my family. Him and his own kind. I watched them with my own eyes."

Thorin walked forwards quickly and grabbed her by the shoulders, shaking her as he demanded, "Are you sure? Tell me!"

Bonnie stared evenly at him, and said with an expressionless voice, "Do memories lie?" With surprising speed, she grabbed the sides of his head and pushed her forehead against his, sending memory after memory of that terrible day, the day Bonnie lost herself before she was found. Thorin saw all of them, he saw her mother with her skull split open, her father with an axe in his back, her sister with her throat slit open, and, Bonnie remembered, her other sister decapitated.

Thorin pushed himself away from her, sending her to the ground where she stayed, gasping with tears pouring down her cheeks and her arms wrapping around herself. She pressed her face into the ground, her hair covering her face so the others couldn't see the pitiful tears.

She wasn't long on the ground though, when much to everyone's surprise, Thorin leant down, lifted her to her feet, and hugged her tightly, his hand stroking her hair in empathy as she sobbed into his shoulder.

"I'm sorry," he told her multiple times, "for your loss."

"As am I," she whispered back.

o.O

The next morning, after a quick breakfast, The Company were back on their ponies, Bonnie once more on the back of Kili's as they rode through a muddy forest. Rain had been pouring down on them for the last few hours, and every single expression on their faces were cold, wet and miserable. Bonnie herself, even more so, knowing she could stop it if she had to but not being able to take the risk.

"Here, Mr. Gandalf, can't you do something about this deluge?" Dori called out the Wizard, squinting so the rain wouldn't fall into his eyes.

"It is raining, Master Dwarf, and it will continue to rain until the rain is done. If you wish to change the weather of the world, you should find yourself another wizard."

"Are there any?" Bilbo asked.

"What?"

"Other wizards?"

Gandalf straightened his back, and answered, "There are five of us. The greatest of our order is Saruman, the White. Then there are the two Blue Wizards; You know, I've quite forgotten their names."

"And who is the fifth?" Bilbo asked.

"Well, that would be Radagast, the Brown," Gandalf said.

"Is he a great Wizard or is he...more like you?"

Gandalf, slightly offended, shifted on his horse and said, "I think he's a very great wizard, in his own way. He's a gentle soul who prefers the company of animals to others. He keeps a watchful eye over the vast forest lands to the East, and a good thing too, for always Evil will look to find a foothold in this world."

o.O

Radagast the Brown ran with terror and hast through the forest, mumbling and whimpering as he spotted all of his dead fellow animals. Birds, rabbits, deer, all sort.

"Not good," He gasped. "Not good at all." He plucked a mushroom, sniffed it, and put it in his bag. He felt and tasted the sap of a tree which appeared to be infected; Growing more and more worried, he whistled, and his bird appeared. Radagast lifted his hat, and the bird and its mate landed in their nest, which was on his head. But then the wizard gasped, spotting something and ran over to a Hedgehog that lay on the ground, whimpering and shaking in pain, obviously dying.

"Oh no! Sebastian! Good gracious," Radagast shouted, cradling the Hedgehog to his chest.

Running through the forest as fast as he could possibly go, Radagast brought Sebastian to his home, Rhosgobel. There, he attempted to cure the hedgehog using various medicinal and magical techniques, to no avail. The hedgehog's family surrounded it, and Radagast spotting them, yelled,

"Move back! Give him some air, for goodness sake!" He bustled around, continuing with his treatments, but they did not work, whilst the hedgehog continued to writhe in pain.

"I don't understand why it's not working; It's not as if it's witchcraft..." Radagast stopped, and a strange look overcame his face. Speaking in a deeper voice then before, he said, "Witchcraft. But it is. A dark and powerful magic."

But he was interrupted as he heard a noise and looked up. What appeared to be the outline of large arachnids were crawling all over his house, slowly trying to get in as the dark magic attracted them.

Radagast hurriedly braced his door shut with a bench, and the hedgehog suddenly croaked, gasping for air, and then laid still. Radagast looked over at it, seemingly to be about to cry; However, the house started creaking with the sound of the spiders crawling over the roof. This was not a time for tears! Radagast ran over to his staff and pulled out the blue stone embedded at the top. As all the small rodents and other animals in his house fled, Radagast cradled Sebastian and whispered a spell, while holding the blue stone to the hedgehog's muzzle.

"Lerya laman naiquentallo," _Free the animal from the curse._ "Sí a hlare ómaquettar," _Now hear words of my voice_. "Na coilerya en vinyanta," _Be its life renewed._ "Sí a hlare ómaquettar. Na coilerya en vinyanta."

The spiders began to break through the thatched roof, just as Radagast went into a trance like state. As his spell grew more and more powerful, a darkness fell over the house, and a black, inky shadow slowly extracted from the hedgehog and into the stone. Suddenly, the hedgehog gasped for air and woke up, sniffling around with delight,

The lights returned to the area, and the spiders slowly crawled off the house. Running outside, Radagast spotted spider webs all around his house, and he saw the giant spiders crawling off into the forest.

"Where on this good earth did those foul creatures come from?" He whispered.

His birds flew to him, fluttering around his head as they whispered something.

"The old fortress?" Radagast asked. "Show me."

**Yay, finished chapter. Hope you enjoyed, but either way if you didn't leave me a review. I own nothing but Bonnie! **

**See you next Sunday….**


	5. From Rags to Riches

**I know I said Sunday, but I really wanted to update my story. Lucky for you I can't keep the promises I make for myself. Also, if anyone wants me to read their story, just tell me what it had to do with, like The Hobbit, Doctor Who, whatever? I've got nothing to read and it's annoying me. Just tell me in a review or send me a PM. Thanks. **

It was just as the sun started to set that Gandalf, Bilbo, Bonnie and the rest of The Company arrived at an old, abandoned farmhouse that was in ruins. It was obvious that the place had been not only destroyed by time, but by a secondary source as well, based on the smashed tiles and broken beams. Bonnie looked around, wondering what sort of creature could have done something like this. Orcs, Goblins, Giants?

"We'll camp here for the night," Thorin ordered, coming up beside the ruined house as he dismounted his horse. "Fili, Kili, look after the ponies," He said. "Make sure you stay with them." Kili and Fili jumped from their mounts, leading them one by one to a small paddock a little ways away. Bonnie watched them go for a moment, before listening to Gandalf once more.

"A farmer and his family used to live here," Gandalf said, walking under the old roof of the house. He lightly knocked on the wooden rafters with his staff, curiosity and worry on every inch of his face.

"Oin, Gloin," Thorin called out, and Gloin looked at him.

"Aye?" The red-haired Dwarve said.

"Get a fire going."

Gloin nodded his head, saying, "Right you are."

But Gandalf was sceptical of their new camp site, looking gravely at Thorin as he suggested, "I think it would be wiser to move on. We could make for the Hidden Valley."

"I have told you already, I will not go near that place," Thorin said, and his voice held no place for argument.

"Why not?" It appeared Gandalf either didn't get the notion, or wasn't intimidated by the little Dwarf. "The Elves could help us. We could get food, rest, advice."

"I do not need their advice," The Durin-King growled.

Gandalf was relentless, Bonnie knew that, but it seemed he was pushing his luck when he tried to persuade the King, "We have a map that we cannot read. Lord Elrond could help us."

"Help?" Thorin scoffed. "A dragon attacks Erebor, what help came from the Elves? Orcs plunder Moria, desecrate our sacred halls, the Elves looked on and did nothing. You ask me to seek out the very people who betrayed my grandfather and betrayed my father."

"You are neither of them," Gandalf pointed out, and raised his eyebrow as he said, "I did not give you that map and key for you to hold on to the past."

"I did not know that they were yours to keep."

Gandalf looked at him for a moment, barely controlled fury in his eyes as he turned and stomped off angrily, leaving the Company behind as he thundered passed them.

"Everything alright?" Bilbo called out, and seeing that Gandalf continued away from them, he asked, "Gandalf, where are you going?"

"To seek the company of the only one around here who's got any sense!" Gandalf called back to him, giving him and answer yet not answering his question at all.

"Who's that?" Bilbo asked in confusion.

"Myself, Mr. Baggins!" Gandalf shouted, then grumbled as he got further away, "I've had enough of Dwarves for one day."

The Dwarves and the two Halflings (Because yes, Bonnie was still a Halfling) watched Gandalf storm away, all silent as they wondered what had happened. They did, however, get back to work as Thorin interjected, sounding completely done, "Come on, Bombur, we're hungry."

"Is he coming back?" Bilbo asked Balin, worried that the Wizard had left him and his sister behind with a bunch of Dwarves. Balin looked unsure, staring at the spot Gandalf had disappeared with a furrowed brow.

Bonnie, too, was looking at the same spot, but she shook her head to clear it and walked up to Bombur's side.

"Want some help?" she asked him kindly, smiling as he looked at her and blushed at her kindness. But that was too be expected, he blushed at everything.

"Yes," he said gratefully, and put her to work chopping up the mushrooms and other vegetables that the Dwarves had managed to scavenge along the way. Or mainly ransacked from the few crop-fields that they had passed through on their way. It had grown dark by the time the soup was ready, and the Dwarves started swarming around them to get their meal.

"He's been a long time," Bilbo noted, standing in between Bofur and Bonnie as he waited for his food.

"Who?" Bofur asked, and in unison Bilbo and Bonnie answered,

"Gandalf."

"He's a wizard!" Bofur declared casually. "He does as he chooses. Here, do us a favour: take this to the lads."

Bofur handed Bilbo two bowls of soup to take to Fili and Kili, shoving them into his hands so forcefully that they almost splashed out of the bowls onto Bilbo's vest. The Hobbit sighed at the close call, and turned to leave just as Bombur tried to take more soup.

"Stop it, you've had plenty," Bofur chastised his brother, slapping his hand away. Bonnie smirked at their brotherly squabbling, before running off to Bilbo's side. Ever since they had started their journey, she had felt as if she wasn't spending enough time with him, and planned to change that as fast as she could.

Together they went out into the dark where Fili and Kili were watching the Ponies. But, as Bilbo held their soups out for them to take, they stayed still, not lunging for the food as the Halflings had expected. Given the other Dwarves had done so, they were quite surprised. But it was obvious that something was wrong.

"What's the matter?" Bilbo asked, obviously sensing it as well. The two of them looked from one Dwarf's face to another's, both seeing the confusion, worry and disbelief on their faces.

"We're supposed to be looking out for the ponies," Kili told them, and his brother added,

"Only we've encountered a slight problem."

"We had sixteen."

"Now there's fourteen."

Bonnie took one more look at them to see if they were being serious, before jumping over a log to the old paddock they had tied the ponies too. The others followed her, and together they all examined the ponies, trying to find out which two were missing.

It was Kili that noticed it first, telling them as they gathered once more, "Daisy and Bungo are missing."

"Well, that's not good," Bilbo stated, still clutching to the bowls of soup. "That is not good at all. Shouldn't we tell Thorin?"

"Uhh, no," Fili decided. "Let's not worry him. As our official burglar, we thought you might like to look into it."

Bilbo sighed, and seeing that they really meant it, started looking around for some clues. He, with his sharp Hobbit eyes, immediately spotted a few trees torn up from their roots and laying on the ground.

"Well, uh...look," he observed, "Some something big uprooted these trees."

"That was our thinking," Kili nodded in agreement.

"Something very big," Bonnie decided. "…and possibly quite dangerous."

Fili nodded his head, glancing around, before he shouted quietly, "Hey! There's a light. Over here! Stay down." He crouched behind a fallen log, Kili, Bonnie and Bilbo on his side, as they observed the orange light that was quite obviously a fire. And Bonnie, wanting to get a closer look, jumped quietly over the log and ran as quietly through the forest, ducking around branches as she went.

"Wait, Bonnie!" She heard Kili shout his after her, and a few seconds later he, along with Fili, had caught up with her, both with scolding looks in their eyes at her carelessness. Bonnie rolled her eyes, and sent them a look that plainly said, _don't act like you wouldn't have done the same thing. _

Suddenly, the sound of harsh laughter reached their ears, and Bonnie growled in anger as she realised what had taken the ponies.

"What is it?" Bilbo asked, not quite knowing what it was.

Kili, looking as equally disgusted as Bonnie, and Fili, declared with a hateful passion, "Trolls."

Fili and Kili continued running toward the fire, Bonnie by their sides, and Bilbo started to follow them. But he returned to grab the two bowls of soup he left on the log before continuing after them. But he had to hide behind a tree as he spotted a massive troll walking towards the fire, carrying a pony under each arm.

"He's got Myrtle and Minty!" Bilbo whisper-shouted as he rushed to the other threes side. "I think they're going to eat them, we have to do something."

"Yes; You should," Kili agreed, intentionally taking him the wrong way. "Mountain trolls are slow and stupid, and you're so small."

"N n no "

"They'll never see you," Kili continued.

"No, no, no..."

"It's perfectly safe!" Kili assured him. "We'll be right behind you."

"If you run into trouble," Fili told him, "hoot twice like a barn owl, once like a brown owl."

Fili and Kili pushed Bilbo towards the fire, Bonnie protesting along the way. She couldn't let her brother go in there by himself. So doing the only thing she could go, she jumped around the tree to Bilbo's side, hearing the two Dwarf brothers hiss after her to come back. She turned to glare at them, and shooed them away, ignoring Bilbo as he whispered Fili's instruction to himself, trying to remember but getting mixed up.

"Twice like a barn owl, twice like a brown once like a brown?" Bilbo muttered to himself, before turning around to ask the Dwarves, "Are you sure this is a good Idea?" Fili and Kili were already out of sight, though rather reluctant at leaving Bonnie behind, and Bilbo sighed, seeing that it was just him and his sister going up against how many mountain trolls, he didn't know.

Following behind her brother, Bonnie came to the edge of what they know knew to be three trolls, camp. The three trolls, Tom, Bert, and William, were sitting around a fire on which a cauldron of something was cooking. Tom was the troll who brought the ponies. William had on a dirty vest. Bert was the cook and was wearing an apron.

"Mutton yesterday, mutton today, and blimey, if it don't look like mutton again tomorrow," Bert complained in his deep voice, sounding like rocks being scraped against each other.

"Quit yer' griping. These ain't sheep. These is West Nags!" Tom shouted, his voice just as deep as the Bert's.

"Oh, I don't like `orse." And that was the one with the highest voice. "I never `ave. Not enough fat on them."

"Well, it's better than the leathery old farmer," Bert pointed out. "All skin and bone, he was. I'm still picking bits of him out of me teeth."

William suddenly sneezed into the pot they had boiling over the fire, and a large plop sounded as his snot flew into it.

"Oh, that's lovely, that is; A floater," Bert said sarcastically, but Tom decided.

"Oh, might improve the flavour!"

William, thinking he had done something right for once, said, "Ah! There's more where that came from," and started sniffling to build up some more snot. But, thank the World-Spirit, Bert grabbed him by the nose. Bonnie watched them in disgust, not quite noticing as Bilbo moved away from her towards the Ponies.

"Oh no you don't," Bert said, and threw William, who was shouting in pain, away from the fire and the food. "Sit down," he said.

"I hope you're gonna gut these nags," William said, and that was when Bonnie finally noticed Bilbo, given William had turned to look at the Ponies. Bilbo, she could see from this angle, was hiding behind the fence of a make shift paddock. "I don't like the stinky parts."

Bert hit William with his ladle, and he squealed in pain.

"I said sit down!" Bert shouted.

"I'm starving!" Tom complained. "Are we `aving horse tonight or what?"

"Shut your cakehole," Bert ordered. "You'll eat what I give ya'."

"How come 'e's the cook?" Tom asked. "Everything tastes the same. Everything tastes like chicken."

"Except the chicken," William said.

Tom shouted, "That tastes like fish!"

"I'm just saying," Bert said, "A little appreciation would be nice. 'Thank you very much, Bert,' 'Lovely stew, Bert'; How hard is that? Hmm, it just needs a sprinkle of squirrel dung."

William reached around, trying to grab his mug of drink, but Bert spotted him, and roared, "There, that's my grog!"

"Uhh, Uhh, sorry," William apologised, but Bert hit him with his ladle again, knocking him down. William got back up, just as Bert tasted his soup and declared.

"Ooh, that is beautifully balanced, that is." He moved the ladle over to William's mouth, giving him a try, as he said, "Wrap your long-bee around that mate. Eh? Good, innit? Heh, heh, heh. That's why I'm the cook."

"Me guts are grumbling," Tom suddenly roared. "I've got to snaffle something. Flesh I need, flesh!"

William, about to sneeze once again, reached behind him for his handkerchief, but to Bonnie's horror, accidentally grabbed Bilbo instead, and sneezed all over him. William then realized that he wasn't holding any ordinary booger.

"Argh!" He shouted. "Blimey! Bert! Bert! Look what's come out of me 'ooter! It's got arms and legs and everything." The other Trolls gathered around to look, Tom asking,

"What is it?"

"I don't know," William said, "but I don't like the way it wriggles around!"

William roughly shook Bilbo, covered in snot, off the napkin and onto the ground, and Tom pointed his blade at him, asking,

"What are you then? An oversized squirrel?"

Bilbo stuttered for a moment, before claiming, "I'm a burglar Uhh, Hobbit."

"A Burgla Hobbit?" William said for clarification.

"Can we cook `im?" Tom asked.

"We can try!" William shouted, running around the fire to try and grab onto Bilbo, but the Hobbit dodged, only to be cornered by Bert.

"He wouldn't make more than a mouthful," Bert thundered, brandishing his ladle, "not when he's skinned and boned!"

"Perhaps there's more Burglar Hobbits around these parts," Tom pointed out menacingly, and growled with a manic smile, "Might be enough for a pie."

"Grab him!" Bert ordered, but Bilbo scampered away from them, running between their legs and around them. Bonnie watched anxiously, a horrible terror in her gut as she waited for him to escape. She got ready to launch herself forwards into the fray when she felt a gently hand wrap around her arm, and she looked behind her to see that Kili and Fili had come back, and brought the rest of their company along.

"It's too quick!" William shouted, as Bilbo once again dodged his hand. They still continued on with their attempts at capturing him, Bert accidently hitting William while he swung his ladle at Bilbo. Just as Bonnie thought he was in the clear though, he was caught by Tom and held upside down in the air.

"Come here, you little... Gotcha!" Tom was saying while he grabbed for him, and once he had Bilbo secured, he asked, "Are there any more of you little fellas `iding where you shouldn't?"

"Nope," Bilbo immediately said.

"He's lying," William growled, and Bilbo shook his head denying it with a small,

"No I'm not!"

"Hold his toes over the fire," William hissed, his crocked eyes squinted, "Make him squeal."

But suddenly, Kili let go of Bonnie's arm and dashed out into the fray. He swung his sword across the back of William's leg, causing the Troll to fall to his knees.

"Drop him!" The Dwarf-prince demanded, fury and confidence in his voice.

"You what?" Tom said, as equally confused as Kili was brave.

"I said," Kili growled slowly, "drop him."

Tom threw Bilbo at Kili, The Hobbit landing on Kili and knocking them both down. At the same time, the rest of the Company, including Bonnie, charged out of the bushes yelling and brandishing their weapons. They began fighting the trolls, hacking, slashing, and hammering their legs.

Bonnie immediately found herself at Kili's side, and by default Fili's, and together they fought, defending themselves and each other. Bonnie swung her sword across the Trolls legs and their reaching hands, all at the same time dodging around their flailing limbs and being careful not to hit anyone in her company.

She slashed a particularly large leg, and rolled across the ground as it came down to stomp on her. The Troll in question roared in fury as it tried to crush her under its heel, but it was soon preoccupied as Kili shouted. "Leave her alone!" and shoved his sword into its toe.

The Troll howled in pain, and reached a hand down to grab Kili. But it recoiled in pain as Bonnie threw one of her daggers into its forearm.

But slowly the Dwarves stopped fighting as they spotted something, and both Kili and Bonnie froze as they looked up and saw two of The Trolls holding Bilbo by his arms and legs, getting ready to pull them off with one wrong move.

"Bilbo!" Kili and Bonnie shouted together, getting ready to launch forwards in another attack if need be.

But Thorin, sensing where their thoughts were headed, roared, "No!" and pulled them back.

"Lay down your arms, or we'll rip his off," Tom the Troll ordered, his voice a roar. There was no hesitation in his voice, and it was quite obvious that if they didn't Bilbo would be limb-less.

Bonnie glared at the Trolls, before throwing her blades to the ground in defeat, along with Thorin, and slowly, the rest of the Dwarves. It was then that the three Trolls ordered them to strip down to their garments, before they were grabbed, some of them being shoved into sacks and being tossed to the side while others were tied, ready to be roasted, above the fire on a spit. Dwalin, Bofur, Bifur, Dori, Ori and Nori were those unlucky Dwarves.

Bonnie was stuck in a sack, along with Thorin, Kili, Fili, Gloin, Oin, Bombur, Balin and Bilbo. They had all been carelessly thrown into a pile, Bonnie's legs strung over Thorin's and Kili and Oin sharing the load of her torso. She had to look upside down to see the Trolls.

"Don't bother cooking them," William was saying as Bert slowly turned the spit. "Let's just sit on them and squash them into jelly."

But Bert obviously had other plans, saying, "They should be sautéed and grilled with a sprinkle of sage."

"Is this really necessary?" Dori shouted, but William ignored him as he declared.

"Ooh, that does sound quite nice."

"Untie us, you monsters!" Oin roared, while Gloin shouted alongside his brother,

"Take on someone your own size!"

The Dwarves on the spit and in the bags were all making noises and talking in fear, the only ones out of the lot of them remaining quiet being Bonnie, Bilbo and Thorin.

"Never mind the seasoning; We ain't got all night!" Tom shouted, just wanting to fill his stomach before they had to go into hiding for the night. "Dawn ain't far away, so let's get a move on. I don't fancy being turned to stone."

Bonnie suddenly looked up, her eyes brightening with an idea. But it was unnecessary, given Bilbo stumbled to his feet, and started hoping around the Dwarves to the front, calling out to the Trolls.

"Wait! You are making a terrible mistake."

"You can't reason with them, they're half wits!" Dori shouted, taking him the wrong way with his plan.

"Half wits?" Bofur asked. "What does that make us?"

"Uh, I meant with the, uh, with, uh, with the seasoning," Bilbo said, hopping closer as best he could without falling over and face-planting.

"What about the seasoning?" Bert asked, pointing his ladle, which was still clutched in hand, at the Hobbit.

"Well, have you smelt them?" Bilbo scoffed, fake smiling at the ignorance. "You're going to need something stronger than sage before you plate this lot up."

Bonnie stayed silent, obviously the only one getting what Bilbo was doing given the Dwarves were yelling at Bilbo, calling him a traitor. The ones in sacks kicked him, mainly Fili given he was the closest. Bonnie tried to shush them, but they didn't listen.

"What do you know about cooking Dwarf?" Tom shouted sceptically, but Bert shushed him, yelling,

"Shut up, and let the, uh, flurgaburburrahobbit talk."

"Uh, th the secret to cooking Dwarf is, um "

"Yes? Come on," Bert persisted.

"It's, uh "

"Tell us the secret."

"Ye yes, I'm telling you, the secret is … to skin them first!" The Dwarves, along with Bonnie this time, roared with anger.

"Couldn't you think of something better, you slimy git!" she shouted, but her voice was drowned at by the other Dwarves bellows.

"Tom, get me the filleting knife," Bert ordered, as Gloin shouted,

"If I get you, you little "

And Dwalin pointed accusingly, "I won't forget that!"

"What a load of wubbish!" Tom argued, still turning the spit as he said, "I've eaten plenty with their skins on. Scuff them, I say, boots and all."

"`e's right!" William agreed. "Nothing wrong with a bit of raw Dwarf! Nice and crunchy." He reached down towards the sacked Dwarves and grabbed Bombur, dangling him upside down over his mouth with his tongue pocking out, getting ready to eat him.

Panicking, Bilbo shouted, "Not not that one, he he's infected!"

"You what?" Tom asked, confused.

"Yeah, He's got worms in his," Bilbo hesitated, before deciding, "… tubes."

"Yuck!" William shouted, flinging Bombur down back onto the pile of Dwarves. He landed painfully on Kili and Bonnie, much to their displeasure, before rolling off them, leaving Bonnie completely winded, given the fat Dwarf had managed to head butt her in the diaphragm.

"In in fact they all have, they're in infested with parasites," Bilbo declared. "It's a terrible business; I wouldn't risk it, I really wouldn't."

Oin, not being able to reach his trumpet, shouted, "Parasites, did he say parasites?"

Kili looked back from Oin to Bilbo, before shouting with disgust and offence, "We don't have parasites! You have parasites!"

"What are you talking about, laddie?" Gloin asked.

The rest of the Dwarves chimed in about how they didn't have parasites and how Bilbo was a fool, leaving the Hobbit to roll his eyes as the Dwarves messed up his plan. But ever the saviour, Thorin, understanding Bilbo's plan, kicked Kili hard in the back of the head. Kili looked at him for a moment, before his eyes widened in realisation, along with others.

There was silence for a moment, before Oin declared, "I've got parasites as big as my arm."

"Mine are the biggest parasites," Kili shouted, "I've got huge parasites!"

"We're riddled," Nori agreed, while his youngest brother shouted,

"Yes, I'm riddled."

"Yes we are. Badly!"

Tom sniffed loudly, before asking, "What would you have us do, then, let 'em all go?"

"Well..." Bilbo said, acting as though the suggestion wasn't a bad idea. But Tom would have none of it.

"You think I don't know what you're up to? This little ferret is taking us for fools!" He thundered.

"Ferret?" Bilbo said, indignantly, offended.

"Fools?" Bert asked.

Bonnie prepared to set fire to Bert with her powers, knowing it would be the only option, but it wasn't needed. Much to her relief, Gandalf appeared on top of a large boulder, shouting, "The dawn will take you all!"

"Who's that?" Bert asked.

"No idea," Tom answered.

"Can we eat `im too?" William wondered.

Gandalf struck the rock with his staff, splitting it in half down the middle, and at the same time allowing the sunlight behind it to pour into the clearing. As the sunlight touched the trolls' skin, they began howling and screaming in pain, as their skin hardened and slowly turned to stone. Within seconds, there were three stone statues of trolls in the clearing.

All the Dwarves stayed silent for a moment, before they all cheered loudly for Gandalf. Bonnie smirked, relaxing in relief, and laughing loudly as Dwalin shouted,

"Oh, get your foot out of my back!"


	6. A Dime a Dozen

**I've decided to start uploading every Thursday now, okay? And oh my god, I can't believe it's almost time to go back to school. Tuesday will be hell...**

Still smiling, Bonnie wriggled around until her legs had been lifted from Thorin's, and she had managed to manoeuvre around so she was facing the right way, no longer upside down. She wriggled around a bit more, propping herself up against Kili as she struggled to unlatch the hidden dagger from between her breasts. _Joys of being a woman_, she thought, _secret hiding place._

She finally managed to get it out, and sliced as fast as she could around the rope tying the bag shut. After a few moments of awkward cutting, she kicked the bag off from around her, sighing in relief as the claustrophobic feeling left. Gandalf had finished with Bilbo by then, and together they came over to help, Bilbo getting to work on Bombur, while Gandalf moved to Thorin.

Bonnie turned around and cut the rope from Kili's bag, allowing him to sit up. She went to move on to cut the other sacks open, but didn't get very far before Kili grabbed her by the shoulders and pulled her in for a small hug. Bonnie smiled slightly, feeling her heart flutter unexpectedly as she slowly hugged him back, slightly confused.

"I'm glad you're safe," Kili whispered against her hair, pulling back to smile softly before moving to help his brother. Bonnie stayed still for a moment, before, with her cheeks reddening, she jumped up and moved over to help the Dwarves that were still hanging over the fire. Why Gandalf didn't get them first, she didn't know.

She started first by, with Thorin's added help, untying their legs so they could jump down. _Don't want them swinging into the fire_, Bonnie thought as she untied Dwalin's arms and he swung forwards clear of the fire. He turned, giving her a small grateful grin and a pat on the head, and started helping to untie their companions.

It was when they were all released, had packed up their gear that they had received from the camp site, redressed and ready to set back on the road, that Bonnie started wandering around, looking around at the Trolls, and even going so far as to climb up onto one of them, Bert. It was there, that she overheard the conversation between Thorin and Gandalf, talking from beneath her Troll.

"Where did you go to, if I may ask?" Thorin was asking Gandalf, who answered with a simple,

"To look ahead."

"What brought you back?"

Gandalf sighed, and answered, "Looking behind. Nasty business. Still, they are all in one piece." He tapped the Troll gently with his staff.

"No thanks to your burglar," Thorin said lightly, and Gandalf looked at him sharply.

"He had the nous to play for time," he defended. "None of the rest of you thought of that."

Thorin looked repentant for a moment, and together getting onto a different subject, they began examining the statues of the Trolls.

"They must have come down from the Ettenmoors," Gandalf noted, and Thorin asked.

"Since when do mountain trolls venture this far south?"

"Oh, not for an age, not since a darker power ruled these lands."

Gandalf and Thorin shared meaningful looked, and the former pointed out.

"They could not have moved in daylight."

Thorin looked slightly more cheered at that, and said, "There must be a cave nearby."

Together, he and the rest of the company searched the area, going as far as they could in groups of two in search of the cave. In the end, it was Fili and Kili that spotted them, which was to be expected given they were two of the youngest and had the sharpest eyes.

"Oh, what's that stench?!" Nori said as the Dwarves gathered and one by one started filing into the cave. A few stayed behind, including Kili and Fili, but Bonnie was too curious in wanting to see what sort of things she could find down there. Perhaps some more weapons?

"It's a troll hoard," Gandalf advised, "Be careful what you touch."

As they entered the cave, many of the Dwarves, and Bonnie, coughed and retched at the pungence. But inside, they found piles of gold coins and other treasure in caskets. Bonnie was most exited to find a quiver of elven arrows, all of which she gathered for herself. Those, along with a small dagger and a hobbit sized black slate throwing-axe, was all she took for herself.

"Seems a shame just to leave it lyin' around. Anyone could take it." She looked over at Bofur's words, to see him standing beside a pile of gold coins.

Gloin, from beside him, nodded, and said, "Agreed. Nori, get a shovel."

Smirking, Bonnie went deeper into the cave, exploring some more. Her persistence proved valuable, though, when she pocked through a pile of rubbish with the end of her shoe and produced a wonderful bow, looking almost completely brand new, along with another quiver of arrows. They were the perfect size for a Dwarf, in particularly, Kili. She snatched them up, running her hands over them to rid them of the dirt and webs.

"These swords were not made by any troll," Thorin said, and Bonnie looked over her shoulder at him to see him looking over two swords before handing one off to Gandalf.

"Nor were they made by any smith among men," Gandalf agreed, drawing the sword in his hand out of its sheath a few centimetres. "These were forged in Gondolin by the High Elves of the First Age."

Thorin, upon hearing they were Elven swords, started to put his away in disgust at having touched something made by those "creatures." But Gandalf would have none of that.

"You could not wish for a finer blade," he said sternly, his eyes hard. Thorin stopped, and reluctantly following his hidden meaning, drew the sword out of its sheath a few centimetres. He gazed at it, surprised by its beauty, and he knew then and there that this blade was meant for him.

_As these daggers are meant for me, _Bonnie thought softly, before turning away from him and spotting Bofur, Gloin and Nori hiding some treasure in a small chest, before burying it in a hole in the ground. She watched them work from Dwalin's side, both of them with small disbelieving smirks of disgust on their face as Gloin stated,

"We're makin' a long term deposit."

"Let's get out of this foul place," Thorin suddenly shouted, pleased with his plunder and therefore ready to leave. "Come on, let's go. Bofur! Gloin! Nori!" Dwalin and Bonnie followed after Thorin, Bonnie with the Arrows, Bow, Axe and Daggers in her grip.

She made her way to Kili's side, and noticed as his eyes immediately found their way to the bow in her hand, lighting up in pleasure at the sight of it.

"Wow, how did you find this?" he asked, jumping down from the small boulder he had been seated on to get a closer look. His hands came up to smooth over the softly carved wood as she held it out for him to take, and he glanced up at her in surprise and honour. "For me?" he asked.

Bonnie, smiling, nodded once, before handing out the quiver of arrows as well. Kili looked at them, seeing how the intricate carvings matched that of the bow. He smiled at them, and a breathless sigh left his lips. Bonnie gave a soft smile at the amazement on his face. Her eyes looked softly at his, and her heart fluttered in happiness that he liked her gift.

"Thank you, Bonnie, very much so." Kili suddenly said, looking up. He smiled softly, and leant forwards to press a gentle kiss to her cheek. Bonnie immediately felt the blood rush to her face, colouring her cheeks a soft pink as she looked bashfully at the ground. Kili smirked at that, pleased with his effect, and too feeling a small tremor in his stomach at how beautiful she looked like that.

And now he could feel his own cheeks heating up as the unexpected thought entered his mind. Since when had he started thinking things, and feeling things, like that?

But he did not have time to dwell on it before he, and everyone else in their company, looked up at the sound of bushes rustling around them, sounding as though something very large was being dragged through them.

"Something's coming!" Thorin shouted, as Bonnie prepared herself for a fight, her new daggers held carefully in her hands.

"Gandalf " Bilbo said, but the Great Wizard interrupted him.

"Stay together!" Gandalf ordered. "Hurry now. Arm yourselves."

Bonnie and Kili got to their feet, Kili with an arrow knocked to his new bow, and together they ran after the rest of The Company as they ran further into the woods, where there would be more room for them to fight. They found a small clearing, where they all came to a halt. They were stood in a circle facing outwards, the most defenceless of them pushed further towards the middle. Mainly Bilbo and Bonnie.

But suddenly, there were cries of, "Thieves! Fire! Murder!" and Radagast the Brown erupted from between the trees, on a rabbit drawn sleigh made of taut branches.

"Radagast!" Gandalf shouted in surprise, before continuing on more quietly, "Radagast the Brown. Ah. What on earth are you doing here?"

"I was looking for you, Gandalf," Radagast gasped, slightly out of breathe. "Something's wrong. Something's terribly wrong."

"Yes?" Gandalf asked expectantly.

Radagast opened his mouth to speak, but shut it, doing this repeatedly as though he were lost for words. Bonnie looked strangely at him, wondering what on earth the matter was, and crossed her arms in anticipation. But it was quite obvious he had forgotten what he was going to say.

"Oh, just give me a minute. Um, oh, I had a thought, and now I've lost it. It was, it was right there, on the tip of my tongue," Radagast said, sounding annoyed with himself as he curled his tongue. But his look of annoyance changed to that of surprise, and he said, "Oh, it's not a thought at all; It's a silly old..."

He opened his mouth, and something crawled down his tongue, something that Gandalf picked up and dropped into the other Wizards hand.

"…stick insect!" Radagast concluded. Bonnie blanched in disgust, her mouth falling open in surprise whilst the Dwarves and Bilbo just looked flustered. Gandalf looked around at The Company, before leading Radagast away to speak in private. The Dwarves watched them for a moment, before splitting off to do their own thing.

Or in Kili's case, to practise with his fantastic new bow! He choose the target of an old mouldy tree that had a distinct crack running down the middle, and knocking an arrow to the bow, he pulled the string back, and fired. But he sighed at the feel of it. It felt good, great even, he just wasn't quite that used to it. That Fili and Bonnie could see, given they had seen the arrow miss its target by a few centimetres. Still an amazing shot, just not as good as Kili expected.

Choosing another arrow, and now knowing the feel of the bow, he set it once more, aiming, and released. This time it soared through the air and planted itself directly in the middle of the crack, lodging firmly in place. Bonnie smiled in relief, glad he was getting the feel of his knew bow, and pleased as he threw the weapon a content look, obviously preferring this bow over his much older and less accurate former bow.

Bonnie herself felt very much like practicing her own talents, wanting to test her abilities given she hadn't used them since that last day at Bag End. Imagine having all that power stuffed up inside of you, but not being able to use it in fear of getting caught. It would drive anybody else mad! Bonnie sighed, and deciding she would risk it, left the Durin brothers, telling them she'd be right back.

Leaving them behind with curious glances, Bonnie walked a little ways away into a thick cluster of trees, where she knew they wouldn't be able to see her. Once hidden she knelt down on the dirt covered ground, and pressed her right hands pointer finger to the ground. From that point, water started flowing slowly, flowing out from her finger like cracks in the ground.

And from then on, Bonnie grew a small flower, then a few more, used the wind to blow gently through the trees, that whispered to her their delight at the gentle movements. She smiled at that, and her grin only grew even more so as a few birds flew up behind her and started flying around her head, tweeting their amazement and curiosity.

And needing to do just _one more thing, _Bonnie looked around to make sure none of the Dwarves had ventured closer, and sighed softly, feeling a burning heat spread through her body, which was quickly replaced with a stinging cold. She opened her eyes then, and immediately saw the world through that of a small deer. Why a deer, she didn't know. She just felt like being something gentle, and kind, and non-threatening. It was a nice change.

She didn't get to spend much time like that though, before a loud howl split the air, and Bonnie's keen ears picked out the unwavering growl of a Warg. Sighing, she go to her feet, and with another feeling of intense heat then sharp cold, she was once again her primary form, and was racing back towards the clearing where the rest of The Company was resting.

Kili and Fili relaxed as they saw her, but that didn't stop Fili from whispering to his brother, "Were those colours always in her hair?" Bonnie didn't hear their little conversation, and therefore didn't see Kili shake his head…

"Was that a wolf?" Bilbo was asking as she arrived, and Kili and Fili, who were looking at her with a weird expression, immediately found themselves at her side. "Are there are there wolves out there?"

"Wolves?" Bofur asked softly, "No, that is not a wolf."

Bonnie looked up in fear as from behind a nearby crag, a Warg appeared; It leaped clear into the midst of the Company, knocking down one of the Dwarves. Bonnie immediately threw one of her daggers, and it found its mark in the Warg's shoulder, giving Thorin time to strike it down and kill it using Orcrist. Another Warg attacked from the other side, and Kili shot it down with an arrow, only for it stumble back to its feet and be slain by Dwalin.

"Warg Scouts!" Thorin growled in anger, looking around for signs of another attack. "Which means an Orc pack is not far behind."

"Orc pack?" Bilbo asked in fear.

Gandalf stormed forwards to tower over the Dwarf-King, asking urgently, "Who did you tell about your quest, beyond your kin?"

"No one," Thorin told him.

"Who did you tell?" Gandalf shouted.

"No one, I swear," Thorin shouted, not being intimidated. "What in Durin's name is going on?"

Gandalf looked around at the lot of them before saying, "You are being hunted."

"We have to get out of here," Dwalin shouted.

But Ori cried out hopelessly, "We can't! We have no ponies; They bolted."

Radagast looked up bravely, and said, "I'll draw them off."

Gandalf shook his head, thinking it was a suicide mission, and said, "These are Gundabad Wargs; They will outrun you."

"These are Rhosgobel Rabbits," Radagast said confidently. "…I'd like to see them try."

Radagast mounted his sleigh, and the rabbits took off through the undergrowth and out into the open. The moment they heard the Wargs start howling as they chased after them, Gandalf, watching from behind a rock, yelled,

"Come on!"

The Company rushed after him across a rocky plain, their little legs moving as fast as possible to keep up with his longer stride. In the distance, they could see Radagast being chased by the Wargs, one of them coming dangerously close whilst trying to catch him. As they ran across the plain, Bonnie, and evidently the rest of The Company, spotted the Wargs not too far from them. Gandalf, realising this, ushered them behind a large pile of rocks and boulders, to hide them.

"Stay together," The Wizard ordered, getting ready to run once more as the Wargs continued on with their race after Radagast.

"Move!" Thorin bellowed, and the Company continued on once more, weapons drawn. Bonnie looked around as she ran, making sure that if there were any stray Wargs coming for them, it would feel the bite of her blades.

As the chase continued, Thorin stopped just behind a rock so that he was not seen by the Wargs. But Ori, too fast to slow down, started to run out of the cover.

"Ori, no! Come back!" Thorin shouted softly, and grabbed the younger Dwarves collar to keep him from blowing their cover.

"Come on! Quick!" Gandalf yelled, leading them in a different direction.

"Where are you leading us?" Bonnie heard Thorin shout, but the Wizard didn't answer as he led them towards an outcropping of rock. They all pressed their backs up against the rock, breathing heavily but quietly as they heard a Warg sniffing around for their scent on top of the outcrop. Thorin looked over at Kili, knowing he was the best archer, and nodded his head once,

Kili looked at him, took a deep steadying breathe, and drew an arrow. He jumped out from the hiding spot, and just as the Warg spotted him, he sent an arrow flying into its head. But it wasn't the silent kill that they all hopped for. The Warg and its Rider fell down off the outcrop, screeching all the way in pain as the other Dwarves jumped forwards to finish it off. But it was the last blow from Bonnie that ended its life, as she flicked her wrist and sent her dagger into its forehead.

She moved to retrieve her blade, and Kili his arrow, before Gandalf, shouted, ordering them on, "Move. Run!" The company continued through a grassy plain, but Wargs began to surround them from all sides, leaving them not many places to run to.

"There they are!" Gloin shouted.

"This way!" Gandalf roared, abandoning all attempts at being quiet. "Quickly!"

They ran for longer, until they found themselves partially surrounded in a small clearing. They held their weapons out, ready to attack if need me.

"There's more coming!" Kili shouted, and Bonnie turned slightly to see Wargs pouring down a hill towards them.

"Kili! Shoot them!" Thorin roared.

"We're surrounded!" Fili shouted.

Both Kili and Bonnie drew arrows and knocked them to their bows, firing them off into the sea of Wargs and Orcs. Some fell, dead, but there wasn't nearly enough arrows to kill all of them.

"Where is Gandalf?" Kili asked, looking around between his shots. The others glanced around too, not spotting him, and Dwalin shouted,

"He has abandoned us!"

The Dwarves gathered closer to each other near a large boulder. Bilbo and Ori, being the ones with the least amount of defence, and Bonnie, were forced into the middle, the latter grumbling loudly as Kili pushed her behind him.

"Hold your ground!" Thorin ordered, pulling out his sword.

But suddenly Gandalf's voice split the air, yelling, "This way, you fools!"

Thorin looked at him for barely a second before shouting, "Come on, move! Quickly, all of you! Go, go, go!"

Bonnie looked towards the spot where the Dwarves were disappearing into, before firing another arrow into an Orcs head, followed by his Warg.

"Kili! Run!" She looked up with horror to see Kili running as fast as he could towards Thorin, a Rider-less Warg hot on his heels. Bonnie froze for barely a second before racing off towards him, using a small burst of her energy to speed herself up.

She lunged onto the Warg, her legs tightening around its back as she tried to stick her blade into its face. She missed, her dagger only slicing its cheek, and felt her own hot blood splash onto the ground as its fang sunk into her forearm. She heard her name screamed out in horror as she yanked her arm away, at the same time hearing a splinter as its tooth came out, and stuck her dagger once more into the creature. She found her mark, severing its jugular as it crashed, dead, and sent her flying down what she now knew to be a short slope.

She heard the Dwarves, Bilbo, and Gandalf shouting at her in worry, and she opened her eyes to see Thorin, Bilbo, Gandalf, Fili and Kili leaning over her,

"I'm fine," she croaked, but in her truth her arm felt like it was on fire, and her back ached from being thrown down the crevice.

"No, you're not!" Kili shout-whispered, before saying to the others, "Look at her arm!"

"Don't take it out," she heard Gandalf's quiet murmur, and wondered what he could possibly be talking about.

She heard respective gasps from the others in the Company, but it was interrupted as an Orc came tumbling down into the cave, barely missing from landing on the fallen Mage, who was currently being helped into a sitting position by Fili and Kili, the latter of which was glaring at her in concern and anger.

Thorin, however, had just pulled an arrow out of the Orcs neck, and he said in disgust, "Elves."

"I cannot see where the pathway leads." Bonnie looked over at Dwalin, who had spoken from the end of the cave where a path lead through. "Do we follow it or no?" he asked.

"Follow it, of course!" Bofur shouted.

Gandalf nodded his head in agreement, mumbling, "I think that would be wise. Somebody, help Bonnie!"

Bonnie went to protest, saying she could walk just fine on her own, but she instead gasped and clutched on tight to Kili's shoulders as he swept her up into his arms. She tensed against him, eyes wide, before slowly settling down as he walked onwards. He acted as though she weighed nothing, and Bonnie rested against him, trusting his strength.

That was when she caught sight of the large Warg fang sticking out of her forearm, and promptly fainted from the pain.

**See you next Thursday...**


	7. A Song of Fire

Kili barely took his eyes off of the unconscious Mage in his arms as The Company began following the path. It was quite narrow, a crack between two tall cliffs, but he had no trouble in keeping his balance. And besides, Fili was standing close by in case he tripped up, given he couldn't see his feet over the slumbering girl. But at times, the path was so narrow the Dwarves, mainly Bombur, had difficulty going through. But the pathway eventually released out into an open area; There was a valley below, and in that valley, the city of Rivendell.

"The Valley of Imladris," Gandalf said softly. "In the Common Tongue, it's known by another name."

Bilbo, who was standing not too far away from Kili and his sister, said, "Rivendell."

"Here lies the last Homely House east of the sea," The Wizard sighed knowledgably.

Thorin, however, would have none of that, and he turned to Gandalf with disgust and anger in his voice, accusing him, "This was your plan all along, to seek refuge with our enemy."

"You have no enemies here, Thorin Oakenshield," Gandalf said strongly in his defence. "The only ill will to be found in this valley is that which you bring yourself."

"You think the Elves will give our quest their blessing?" Thorin asked sceptically. "They will try to stop us."

"Of course they will. But we have questions that need to be answered. If we are to be successful, this will need to be handled with tact and respect and no small degree of charm. Which is why you will leave the talking to me."

Gandalf led The Company across a great stone bridge, carvings in the stone like amazing intricate tiles. Kili looked around in wonder, for the first time letting his gaze leave Bonnie. Despite the animosity he felt for the Elves, he couldn't deny the beauty and awe-inspiring feel of the place. The whole thing made him, and all the other Dwarves, feel uneasy.

The youngest Durin turned to see a Dark-haired Elf coming down a flight of stairs towards them.

"Mithrandir," he greeted Gandalf jovially, pleasant surprise on his face at the Wizard but not so for the crowd of Dwarves.

"Ah, Lindir!" Gandalf said, coming forwards to greet the Elf. But the Dwarves, not happy at all, murmured amongst each other in distrust. Kili caught his uncle whispering to Dwalin,

"Stay sharp."

"_Lastannem I athrannedh I Vruinen_," Lindir said in some form of Elvish that Kili didn't know, meaning, 'We heard you had crossed into the Valley.'

"I must speak with Lord Elrond," Gandalf explained, leaning on his staff as he waited.

Lindir looked at him, slightly confused as he told him, "My lord Elrond is not here."

"Not here?" Gandalf asked, in annoyed surprise. "Where is he?"

Suddenly, there were sounds of Elvin horns, and The Company spun around to see a horde of armed horsemen approaching along the bridge at a rapid rate.

"_Ifridî bekâr!_" Thorin shouted, '_Ready weapons!_' "Hold ranks!"

The Dwarves bunched up together into a tight circle with their weapons pointed outward, Bilbo and Kili shoved towards the middle so the Halflings could be protected. But there was no need, given all the mounted Elves did as they arrived was ride in circles around them. Eventually, they stopped, and one elf, Elrond, separated himself from the others.

"Gandalf," he said emotionlessly, and the Wizard bowed gracefully.

"Lord Elrond. _Mellonnen! Mo evínedh?_" Gandalf asked. '_My friend! Where have you been?_'

"_Farannem 'lamhoth I udul o charad. Dagannem rim na Iant Vedui,_" Lord Elrond replied, '_We've been hunting a pack of Orcs that came up from the South. We slew a number near the Hidden Pass_.'

Elrond dismounted from his horse, and with a small welcoming smile, he and Gandalf embraced like brothers. The Dwarves watched on in confusion, wondering what in the name of Middle-Earth was going on, their weapons still held suspended in mid-air.

"Strange for Orcs to come so close to our borders," Elrond said in English. "Something, or someone, has drawn them near."

He held up an Orc sword and showed it to everyone, before handing it off to Lindir. He was quite obviously the 'right-hand-man' so to speak.

"Ah, that may have been us," Gandalf said sheepishly, and Thorin stepped forwards. Elrond looked upon him with recognition.

"Welcome Thorin, son of Thrain," he said, and the Dwarf-King remained stoic as he said,

"I do not believe we have met."

"You have your grandfather's bearing. I knew Thror when he ruled under the Mountain."

Thorin looked at him without emotion, and he said, with squinted eyes, "Indeed; He made no mention of you."

Ignoring this insult, Elrond turned to the Dwarves and spoke in Elvish (Sindarin). Kili frowned in confusion, having no idea what he said, and just wanting to get a move on so he could put Bonnie down somewhere to rest.

"What is he saying?" Gloin shouted. "Does he offer us insult?"

The Dwarves grew bellicose and gripped their weapons uneasily. Kili tightened his grip on Bonnie. But Gandalf looked at them and spoke exasperatedly.

"No, master Gloin, he's offering you food."

There was silence for a moment, before the Dwarves crowded in and quickly discussed this amongst themselves. They muttered to each other for a moment, before Gloin turned back, and declared,

"Ah well, in that case, lead on."

The Dwarves started filing one by one up the stairs, but when Kili turned to follow them, he felt a hand on his shoulder, stopping him. He looked up to see Lord Elrond, his eyes looking at Bonnie as he ordered,

"Follow me." Thorin and Fili stopped, looking back at Kili with reluctance to leave him, along with Bilbo, who didn't want to leave his sisters side. Kili just nodded reassuringly, before following Elrond up the flight of stairs to what appeared to be a medicine bay.

Elrond directed him towards a white table, and Kili walked forwards to set her down as gently as he possibly could, smoothing his hand once over her dark hair before taking a single step back.

"You may go, Master Dwarf," Elrond said, already examining her wounds. But Kili shook his head stubbornly.

"I'm not leaving her," he said softly, and moved to stand at the head of the table above her. He could see her chest moving softly up and down as she breathed, and only focused on that as he heard Elrond gently remove the fang from her arm, and spread some pale green ointment on the wound.

"_Ambar aire anar nulla sil-urwa nu kelva tulka,_" He said, his hands pressed tight over her wound. Kili looked on, shocked, as a soft almost non-existent glow came around the wound, and Elrond moved his hands away to show that the wound was gone, instead replaced by new soft skin.

He didn't get a chance to say anything, though, before Bonnie gasped and her eyes flew open in shook. She glanced around, swallowing in fear as she didn't recognise where she was, or the Elf standing over her. Kili, seeing this, clutched at her hand and moved to her other side, holding it dearly to his chest as he smiled down at her.

"You're alright," he said softly, "You're safe, Bonnie."

The Halfling squeezed her eyes shut for a moment, before she sat up and threw her arms around Kili's shoulders, hugging him tight against her as she buried her head in his neck. His arms came up automatically, but he hesitated before wrapping them around her, not quite being used to the feel of her arms so tight around him. They had shared small hugs every now and again, but none this meaningful. It sent Kili's heart into a thumping mess.

_Why is this happening to me?_ He thought to himself.

o.O

Kili and Bonnie, after being assured by Elrond that she was fine to go, had soon joined the rest of The Company on a small balcony where a few tables had been set out, and food piled upon them. Mainly vegetables and fruit, much to the Dwarves annoyance.

"Try it. Just a mouthful," Dori urged his younger brother Ori, who was looking sceptically at a piece of lettuce.

"I don't like green food," Ori whined, and Bonnie smirked as she diverted her attention away from him towards Dwalin, who was looking through a bowl of greens.

"Where's the meat?" He asked, looking up and catching Bonnie's eye. The Halfling shrugged, before advising,

"Try some of the cucumber. It's not too bad."

Dwalin looked at her as though she were quite mad, before taking a small angry nibble on the suggested food. Bonnie watched, a small grin on her face, as he tried to hide the pleasant surprise on his face.

"Not bad, right?" she asked, winking as she bit on a piece of carrot.

"Aye, lass, but nothing beats a good piece of lamb," Bofur said, from the side of her not occupied by Kili. The latter was poking through a bowl of peas, trying to decide whether he would give them a try or not. Just as he slowly picked one carefully up between his fingers, Bonnie placed her hand on his arm.

"You don't want to do that," she said, plucking the pea from his fingers and throwing it over her shoulder. "I suggest you all stick with the Cucumber, Carrot and grapes. And try some of the watermelon, it's gorgeous!" she followed this statement by taking a large emphasised bite out her own piece, feeling the juices dribble down her chin.

The Dwarves all roared with laughter, before grabbing her suggested foods and taking quick bites of them. Soon there was no Cucumber, Carrots or anything else she had suggested left.

"Have they got any chips?" Ori suddenly asked, after that had run out.

"Ori, the baked potato is basically chips, okay?" Bonnie shouted down the table to him. She was on the other end, between Kili and Bofur, and across from Dwalin, Nori and Oin, the latter of which stuffed a napkin in his ear trumpet to stop hearing the 'awful' music the Elves were playing.

"Change the tune, why don't you?" Nori complained, turning around to look at a she-elf that was playing the harp. He rubbed his ears. "I feel like I'm at a funeral."

"Did somebody die?" Oin asked, looking around.

"Alright lads, there's only one thing for it," Bofur said, getting to his feet and jumping up onto a small stand between their tables.

_There is an inn, a merry old inn,_

_Beneath an old grey hill,_

_And there they brew a beer so brown_

_That the Man in the Moon himself came down_

_One night to drink his fill._

_The ostler has a tipsy cat,_

_That plays a five-stringed fiddle;_

_And up and down he runs his bow,_

_Now squeaking high, now purring low,_

_Now sawing in the middle._

_So the cat on his fiddle played hey-diddle-diddle,_

_A jig that would wake the dead:_

_He squeaked and sawed and quickened the tune,_

_While the landlord shook the Man in the Moon:_

_'It's after three!' he said._

Throughout the whole song, the Dwarves and Bonnie all grinned and started singing along, bashing their hands on the table to start up a tune, while some of them threw food around at each other. Kili had particularly good aim as he threw some mashed potato at a stone statue of a bird, smashing it right in the beak so it splattered off across the chest of an Elven statue.

"That's not the whole song, Bofur!" Bonnie shouted out to him, grinning as he winked at her challengingly and reached out for her hand, gesturing for her to join him. Bonnie jumped to her feet and joined him on the table, and with the Dwarves continuing up the tune, she sung,

_The landlord keeps a little dog  
><em>_That is mighty fond of jokes;  
><em>_When there's good cheer among the guests,  
><em>_He cocks an ear at all the jests  
><em>_And laughs until he chokes._

_They also keep a hornéd cow  
><em>_As proud as any queen;  
><em>_But music turns her head like ale  
><em>_And makes her wave her tufted tail  
><em>_And dance upon the green._

_And O! The rows of silver dishes  
><em>_And the store of silver spoons!  
><em>_For Sunday there's a special pair,  
><em>_And these they polish up with care_

_On Saturday afternoons.  
><em>_The Man in the Moon was drinking deep,  
><em>_And the cat began to wail;  
><em>_A dish and a spoon on the table danced,  
><em>_The cow in the garden madly pranced,  
><em>_And the little dog chased his tail._

_The Man in the Moon took another mug,  
><em>_And then rolled beneath his chair;  
><em>_And there he dozed and dreamed of ale,  
><em>_Till in the sky the stars were pale,  
><em>_And dawn was in the air.  
><em>

_Then the ostler said to his tipsy cat:  
><em>_'The white horses of the Moon,  
><em>_They neigh and champ their silver bits;  
><em>_But their master's been and drowned his wits,  
><em>_And the Sun'll be rising soon!'_

_So the cat on his fiddle played hey-diddle-diddle,  
><em>_A jig that would wake the dead:  
><em>_He squeaked and sawed and quickened the tune,  
><em>_While the landlord shook the Man in the Moon:  
><em>_'It's after three!' he said._

_They rolled the Man slowly up the hill  
><em>_And bundled him into the Moon,  
><em>_While his horses galloped up in rear,  
><em>_And the cow came capering like a deer,  
><em>_And a dish ran up with the spoon._

_Now quicker the fiddle went deedle-dum-diddle;  
><em>_The dog began to roar,  
><em>_The cow and the horses stood on their heads;  
><em>_The guests all bounded from their beds  
><em>_And danced upon the floor.  
><em>_With a ping and a pong the fiddle-strings broke!  
><em>_The cow jumped over the Moon,_

_And the little dog laughed to see such fun,  
><em>_And the Saturday dish went off at a run  
><em>_With the silver Sunday spoon.  
><em>_The round Moon rolled behind the hill  
><em>_As the Sun raised up her head.  
><em>_She hardly believed her fiery eyes;  
><em>_For though it was day, to her surprise  
><em>_They all went back to bed!_

The Dwarves, and now Bilbo, cheered loudly, bashing their fists on the table as she smirked and jumped down, pulling Bofur along with her. She was quite pleased actually, with her singing, and as Bilbo always told her, 'You could make an Elf swoon with your voice.' She hadn't quite believed him until now, upon seeing the impressed and delighted faces of the Dwarves, Elves and Wizard surrounding her.

Both she and Bofur sat back down at their seats, the lot of them talking loudly to each other given that there was basically no food left to be eaten. The Halfling turned to her brother though, having to shout across the table, "Bilbo! Come here!"

The Hobbit looked at her, a small smile on his face, and got to his large feet, moving around the tables to her side.

"I feel like dancing, Bilbo," she said. "Come dance with me." She left no room for agreement, jumping to her feet and grabbing Bilbo's arms as she spun him around.

"Move your feet, Bilbo!" she shouted, letting go of him and tapping her feet loudly on the stone ground. Surprising all the Dwarves, she picked up the pace, and her feet tapped a loud and rhythmic jig on the floor. Bilbo stood in front of her, doing the same jig they had been taught by Bilbo's father and mother.

"We haven't done this in years!" Bilbo shouted to her, above the cheers and whoops of the Dwarves.

"I know!" Bonnie shouted back, before linking her arm with his, and they moved around each, still continuing on with their beat. (I imagine it to be something like the girls part in Riverdance, 2009.) By now the other Dwarves had jumped to their feet and were doing their own little Dwarveish Jig of sorts. It actually looked good, Bonnie was thinking, but she didn't get a chance to appreciate it before she was yanked in a different direction and was being spun around by Kili, then Fili, then Bofur, and even Dwalin, the massive Dwarf whirling her around on her tiptoes.

The Elves were looking on in mild discomfort, not liking at all the Dwarves and Halflings idea of entertainment and fun was, but still sitting through it like the gracious hosts they were. But there was nothing to do about it, given if even they shouted as loud as their voices could go, there would be no chance the Dwarves and their Halflings would hear them.

o.O

That night the Dwarves and the Halflings were having a late-night party in their open quarters. They had chosen to be in a veranda like room, one that was big enough for them to spread out their bed rolls. They roasted sausages over a fire made by burning the Elvish furniture, and Bofur, seeing a heavy Bombur sitting on a bench and eating a large bowl of food, looked at his sausage thoughtfully.

"Bombur!"

As Bombur looked up, Bofur threw him the sausage, his brother catching it easily enough. But the added weight of the sausage was just too much for the bench, and it broke, sending Bombur, shrieking, to the floor, along with all his food. The Dwarves laughed uproariously, a few of them rolling around on the floor as they listened to Bombur's groans and mumbles about their 'Idiocy' and 'rudeness' and 'lack of decorum for the fine foods.'

Bonnie giggled softly from her spot a little ways away from the fire, a tad too preoccupied to really focus on their amusement as she plucked accordingly at a small instrument one of the Elven maidens had given her. Bonnie had no idea what for, but she was still grateful all the same, given it was one of the few instruments she had actually bothered to master in her time. They called it a LÏndàle. But she called it something much simpler, a very nice, very beautiful… guitar.

"Play us a song, lass, come on."

Bonnie looked up in surprise, eyes wide, to see that all of the Dwarves attention had turned to her, the lot of them sitting expectantly with anticipating looks on their face.

Sensing her hesitation, Dwalin called out, "Don't be shy, Lassie, we're all friends here."

But it was the hopeful and excited smile on Kili's face that drove her to sing, without guitar at first.

_Oh, misty eye of the mountain below  
><em>_Keep careful watch of my brothers' souls  
><em>_And should the sky be filled with fire and smoke  
><em>_Keep watching over Durin's sons_

She added in the guitar, strumming the strings softly so they created a gentle and meaningful melody. The Dwarves were watching her with increased interest, now knowing what her song was to be about, but still marveling at the beauty of her voice. It was unique and gentle, but profound or nimble when need be.

_If this is to end in fire  
><em>_Then we should all burn together  
><em>_Watch the flames climb high into the night  
><em>

_Calling out father oh  
><em>_Stand by and we will  
><em>_Watch the flames burn auburn on  
><em>_The mountain side_

_And if we should die tonight  
><em>_Then we should all die together  
><em>_Raise a glass of wine for the last time  
><em>

_Calling out father oh  
><em>_Prepare as we will  
><em>_Watch the flames burn auburn on  
><em>_The mountain side  
><em>_Desolation comes upon the sky_

_Now I see fire  
><em>_Inside the mountain  
><em>_I see fire  
><em>_Burning the trees  
><em>_And I see fire  
><em>_Hollowing souls  
><em>_I see fire  
><em>_Blood in the breeze  
><em>_And I hope that you remember me_

Bofur, who had prepared his flute and fiddle just as she started to sing, played a small piece on the fiddle, one that sounded perfect with the song. It was as if he had already heard it before, and knew exactly when to play.

_Oh, should my people fall  
><em>_Then surely I'll do the same  
><em>_Confined in mountain halls  
><em>_We got too close to the flame  
><em>

_Calling out father oh  
><em>_Hold fast and we will  
><em>_Watch the flames burn auburn on  
><em>_The mountain side  
><em>_Desolation comes upon the sky_

It was now, after Bonnie finished that one stanza that the Dwarves joined in. They were quick to catch on, singing along to her song with their deep individual voices that still blended together. If Bonnie listened hard enough, she could pick out each and every Dwarves own voices, but the one that stood out most to her was, of course, Kili. His voice was deep and smooth, perfectly balanced to the song. He could have sung it by himself, and even the birds would have stopped to listen.

_Now I see fire  
><em>_Inside the mountain  
><em>_I see fire  
><em>_Burning the trees  
><em>_I see fire  
><em>_Hollowing souls  
><em>_I see fire  
><em>_Blood in the breeze_

_And I hope that you remember me_

The Dwarves stopped, their voices fading out as Bonnie sung loudly, her voice filling the air in a loud descant of tones and voice variations. The Dwarves continued to stare, most of them humming along with the tune, and even a few, Balin in particular, with a few tears in his eyes from the memory of Erebor and Dale.

_And if the night is burning  
><em>_I will cover my eyes  
><em>_For if the dark returns  
><em>_Then my brothers will die_

_And as the sky is falling down  
><em>_It crashed into this lonely town  
><em>_And with that shadow upon the ground  
><em>_I hear my people screaming out_

The Dwarves joined in again, singing along with the now familiar verse.

_Now I see fire  
><em>_Inside the mountains  
><em>_I see fire  
><em>_Burning the trees  
><em>_I see fire  
><em>_Hollowing souls  
><em>_I see fire  
><em>_Blood in the breeze_

She gestured for the Dwarves to continue on with the 'I see fire' and while they sung that, she added in her own little bits of song, creating layers of voices, a soft hum.

_I see fire (oh you know I saw a city burning out) (fire)  
><em>_And I see fire (feel the heat upon my skin, yeah) (fire)  
><em>_And I see fire (uh-uh-uh-uh) (fire)  
><em>_And I see fire burn auburn on the mountain side_

Their song came to a close, and without a word, though knowing that the Dwarves were filled with admiration and awe from the looks they gave her, Bonnie watched them as they silently settled down for sleep.

Bonnie sighed and placed her instrument in her pack, before shifting so she was lying down on her bed roll. She lay there, for how long she didn't know, but it was enough for the Dwarves snores to fill the air. But sleep would not come for her that night.

She shifted uncomfortably, rolling from side to side as she tried to get comfortable. And it seemed one of the Dwarves had sensed her discomfort, for as she sighed, resting on her back, there was a movement from one of the benches lining the walls. Bonnie tilted her head to look as Kili packed up his things and made his way over to her.

He smiled as he drew close, while Bonnie just sat up slightly on her elbows, looking at him in confusion. He just smiled wider, before setting out his bed roll and settling down beside her.

"Can't sleep?" he asked, and Bonnie hesitantly shook her head. Kili grinned softly, before laying down on his back and folding his hands on his stomach. Bonnie rolled onto her side to face him, her eyes closing, and she slowly found unconsciousness in the slant of his smile.

**Hope you enjoyed this chapter. And thank you all who reviewed! Just want to clarify that I own nothing and no-one but Bonnie, all rights go to J.R.R. Tolkien, and his magnificent mind and imagination.**

**I'm just about halfway through the holidays (Sobs) but I think I'm doing pretty well at getting through this story. I'm at my mums at the moment, and I'll probably be here for a while, with my friends and family coming and going while I stay. Because I love my mum the most, obviously! Jokes, I love both my parents equally.**

**Anyway, stay tuned for the next chapter. I'll see you next Sunday. **


	8. A Storm of Stone

**Welcome back! So new chapter, and I know I haven't uploaded for a while but that is because my laptop is broken and i'm waiting to get a new one from the school. **

Bonnie woke with a jolt the next morning, feeling, with confusion, something scrambling away from her side. She blinked her eyes, trying to clear them of the blur, to see Kili staring at her, cheeks flaming red with embarrassment. Fili and Bofur were standing over his shoulder, their eyes flickering between the two with uncompromising amusement.

Bonnie's reaction, based on what she had guessed happened (Which was exactly was happened) was far less frantic then the Dwarves expected, compared to Kili's. She just blinked a few more times, huffed in annoyance, and turned back over onto her other side, facing away from the dazed Dwarves.

"We'll be setting off soon, little sister," Bofur told her, and in answer he was sent another grumble.

"Come on, Khazush," Fili encouraged, and Bonnie didn't bother asking him what that meant as she turned back around and stuck him with a firm glare. He quailed under the look, and immediately feeling guilty, Bonnie sighed and sat up, stretching with a yawn as she smacked her lips together.

"Quick, Little sister, before Bombur fills his fats stomach with all the food!" Bonnie chuckled, a small exasperated smile on her face as she got to her feet and stretched once, before following Dwalin's orders and joining him by a bench the food had been laid out on.

"Morning," she mumbled tiredly as she snagged a sausage on the end of her fork. She took a bite out of it, ignoring the heat and chewing hungrily. She hadn't eaten much that night, just a few pieces of bacon and a tomato, and her stomach was twisting with hunger by now.

"So you enjoyed your little cuddle with Kili?" Bofur teased slyly, coming over to her other side and looking at her slowly with a small casual grin on his face. Bonnie pushed his shoulder, though he probably barely felt it, and shook her head so her hair fell into her eyes, and hid the blush from her cheeks.

"Shut up, Bofur," she mumbled, and the spoken Dwarf threw his head back and bellowed out a laugh. Dwalin smirked and ruffled her hair affectionately, saying soothingly,

"Pay no mind to him, little sister. He is only teasing." Bonnie smiled, knowing he was right, and instead focused on something else he said.

"You're the second Dwarf to call me that this morning," she noted. "Why the name all of a sudden?"

Balin, who had recently just joined them for breakfast, answered, "It's your song from last night, Khazush. Brothers, you called us, and we feel the same. Family does not end with blood, lassie, and we all see you as our sister now." He hesitated for a moment, before adding, "Well, all of us but one."

The Mage got ready to ask who, all though already having a small inkling, but before she could voice her question, Thorin appeared at the top of a flight of stairs, and called down to them.

"Ready your selves! We set out at sunrise."

Bonnie looked out over the balcony, only just noticing that the sun had not even risen just yet. _No wonder I'm so tired, _she thought, _I've barely slept! _The sky had taken on a feint bluish hue, meaning dawn wasn't far off, and the Dwarves grumbled as they quickly finished their breakfast and started packing up their things, rolling up bed rolls, pulling on cloaks, and preparing weapons.

Bonnie moved back to her bed roll, where Kili was packing his possessions. Bonnie realised that when she looked close enough, she could see Kili's cheeks colour slightly whenever he so much as looked at her. Not being quite sure why, Bonnie wondered why it didn't bother her very much that she had slept in his arms that night. In fact, when she thought of it, she wasn't embarrassed, but rather comforted by the image that appeared in her head.

She smiled softly at the youngest Durin as she placed her folded blanket into her pack, met his gaze, and winked. He blushed once more, and started stuttering, dropping his pack to the floor as he tried to get onto another subject.

Bonnie, finished packing, smiled slightly in amusement, and on her way passed him, she stopped and kissed him on the cheek, feeling his stubble scrape against her jaw. She was actually quite surprised with herself, wondering where she got this confidence from, and passed it off as lack of sleep and new found security this journey had given her.

Something that she sorely needed.

o.O

Only moments after the Valley of Rivendell had been bathed in clear sunlight did the Dwarves and Halflings set out to continue their journey once more. They were currently walking along a mountain path, rocks and crags posing challenging obstacles as Bonnie, Bilbo and the rest of The Company manoeuvred their way around and over them.

Thorin came to a halt, stopping at the edge of the borders of Rivendell. He ordered each and every one of them with a pointed look and urgent voice, "Be on your guard; We're about to step over the edge of the Wild." He turned to his most trusted companion. "Balin, you know these paths; Lead on."

"Aye," Balin answered, taking the lead as they moved onwards. Bonnie stayed at Bilbo's side, and with him, turned and looked back at Rivendell. Bilbo's expression gave away to everyone the longing he felt to be back, walking through those beautiful Elven halls, relaxed and content with life as he had been the past few days in Imraldis.

But Bonnie, while she would always miss the place she found refuge from Orcs and other foul creatures and the place where Lord Elrond had saved her life, was quite happy to be back on the road, travelling once more with her fellow Dwarves. Sitting around doing nothing productive was not very becoming for her, and she would much rather be voyaging through the forest then sitting down on a comfortable hearth by a calming lake. Adventure was on her mind, and that was what she longed for.

Bonnie turned back around and started after the others, not realising that her brother wasn't following until Thorin called back to him,

"Master Baggins, I suggest you keep up."

For two days Bonnie, Bilbo and the Dwarves hiked through the wilderness of Middle-Earth, over ranges of hard stone, mountains of sharp rock, and plains of clear green grass. They barely stopped, except for brief moments for food and rest that lasted little more than a few minutes each time. The only time they got sleep was for the nights, where many of the Dwarves insisted they rest, mainly Bombur complaining that if he did not sit his legs would fall off and he would collapse of exhaustion…

The morning of their fourth day back on the road had the Dwarves, Bilbo and Bonnie grumbling loudly in annoyance. Whilst Bonnie never really had a problem with rain, the canopy of thick black clouds that welcomed her the morning they were to enter the high pass of mountains did not bring a smile to her face. Rather the contrary.

There were many complaints as they started over the Misty Mountains. The wind was howling loudly, almost sweeping Bilbo, Bonnie, and some of the lighter Dwarves off their feet. They had taken to pairing off with each other, so as to keep an eye on and to have an eye kept on each Dwarf and Halfling. Bonnie found herself paired with Dwalin, who she was quiet pleased with, and Bilbo with Bofur, who for once wasn't looking very merry.

The mountain trail slowly grew narrow, and by default dangerous, with a sharp, uneven cliff on one side and a sheer drop on the other. The clouds had finally let down their load, now adding not only rain to the wind, but lightning and thunder. It lashed across their faces like whips, blinding them with the rain and the bright flashes that plunged them from light to darkness in mere seconds. More than one of them stumbled a few times, only to be pulled back to safety by their chosen partners. At one point, Bonnie felt her feet slip out from beneath her, and would've fallen over the edge of the cliff if Dwalin hadn't had such quick reflexes, and pulled her back by her elbow. From then on he kept his hand firmly wrapped around her arm.

She continued on then with her shoulder skimming the cliff face, not trusting herself anymore to not slip over and fall to her death. Of course, she trusted Dwalin with her life, but one wrong move and her life could be over. Despite the fact that she was a Mage, she didn't have the power quite yet to not only bring down this storm, but to carry her own weight on the wind was a skill she had not yet acquired. If she fell, that was it.

"Hold on!" Thorin roared this as a rather savage lightning bolt hit not far away, almost blowing the Dwarves and Halfling off their feet. Bilbo, walking in front of Dwalin, almost gave Bonnie a heart attack as the stone beneath his feet gave way, and he started falling into the chasm, his arms thrashing as he tried to find something to hold onto. But Dwalin, saving yet another Baggins, reached forwards and pulled him back, pressing him against the wall as he waited for the Hobbit to find his footing.

"We must find shelter!" Thorin roared over the howling wind, his eyes squinted against the rain as he searched for a cave. But Dwalin, besides the youngest Halfling, bellowed as he spotted, by a flash of lightning, something flying through the air towards them.

"Watch out!" he bellowed, and the Dwarves and Halfling looked up to see a massive boulder hurtling through the air towards them. It hit the mountain side above them, sending rocks joining in with the rain as it showered down above them. Dwalin pressed Bonnie up against the mountain side, shielding her with his strong body to stop her from being hit by the crashing stone.

Bonnie looked up and around, trying to find the source of the boulder. How on Middle-Earth could it have come flying like that? Wouldn't they had heard the lighting that would have hit it? But it wasn't lightning, they soon found out.

Balin, along with the other Dwarves, seemed to figure it out as well, given he shouted, "This is no thunderstorm; It's a thunder battle! Look!"

A stone giant reared up from a nearby mountain, the creature ripping off a massive boulder from the top of the mountain. Bonnie stared, open-mouthed in surprise and horror, as Bofur shouted in awe,

"Well bless me, the legends are true. Giants; Stone Giants!"

The Giant threw the massive boulder, the piece smashing into another one of its kind that had just appeared around the corner of the cliff the Halflings and Dwarves were currently perched on.

"Take cover: you'll fall!" Thorin roared as he looked back at the rest of his company, spotting Bofur who was not being careful at all. He was basically standing on the very edge of the cliff path, too mesmerised by the magnificent Stone Giants to realise he was putting himself in even more peril.

"What's happening?" Kili shouted, as the other Dwarves yelled at each other to brace and hold on. The rocks beneath their feet began to give way from all the vibrations and from the impact of the falling rocks, but Bonnie was still partially safe as Dwalin protected her with his body, his other hand placed firmly on Bilbo's chest to keep him back.

"Kili! Grab my hand! Ki..."

Bonnie looked up in horror at Fili's yell, and turned to see that the trail had broken apart, separating the brothers from each other, and Bonnie from Kili. She shrieked, and slid out from behind Dwalin, stumbling along the path to Fili's side as she stared in abject horror into Kili's eyes. He stared back with the same amount of panic, and shouted,

"Bonnie!" The young Mage felt tears trailing with the rain down her face, and the shocking pain at the separation between her and the Durin-prince. She would have fallen, one more, off the edge of the cliff had Fili not grabbed a hold of her collar and pulled her back against him.

The two stone giants began to fight with their fists, smashing each other's faces while The Dwarves held on tight as they were flung around. One of the groups, Kili's, managed to jump to a different spot, off the stone giant onto a real piece of immobile Mountain. It was then that a third stone giant appeared, throwing a boulder at the head of the Giant Bonnie, Bilbo and a few of the other Dwarves were on. The victim of the smash slowly collapsed, smashing against the side of a separate cliff. Bonnie squealed in shock, fully expecting to be squished between the two cliff faces, but all that happened was Dwalin and Fili grabbing her arms and jumping hard onto the other trail. Gasping in shock with tears still streaming down her face, she buried her face in Dwalin's chest, and he stroked her hair like a father comforting his child.

"No! No! Fili!" It appeared the other group did not know they were safe, shaken, but unharmed, based on the sound of Thorin's bellow as he called for his nephew.

"We're all right! We're alive!" Balin shouted as the rest of The Company appeared around a small cleft in the mountain, rushing forwards to see for themselves that their companions weren't hurt. Bonnie was soon swept up into the gentle arms of Kili, after he had finished with his brother of course. But her blood ran cold as she heard Bofur shout in a panic.

"Where's Bilbo? Where's the Hobbit?"

They looked around desperately for a few seconds until Ori spotted a pair of small hands poking above the edge of the cliff, and shouted, "There!" before lunging forwards to grab Bilbo's hands. He missed by barely a centimetre, leaving Bilbo hanging on by one hand from the cliff face.

"Get him!" Dwalin shouted, moving forwards to help if need be. Bonnie would have joined him had Fili and Kili not been holding her back with tight grips on her arms and waist. She sobbed, not being able to see her brother behind the many Dwarves, and only grew more frantic as she saw Thorin disappear behind the ledge. Bilbo came up over the edge, and Bonnie sighed a breath of relief at seeing her brother out of harms way, for now.

But now Thorin was in trouble, hanging by his hands from the ledge. Dwalin tried to lift Thorin back up too, but the Dwarve-ling lost his grip and began falling too; However, Dwalin, with much effort, was able to pull him back up, much to everyone's relief.

"I thought we'd lost our burglar," Dwalin gasped out once everyone was back to their feet. Bonnie's legs shook as she finally broke out of the Durin-princes holds and launched herself at her brother, hugging him tightly and wishing to never see him in harms way for as long as she lived.

"He's been lost ever since he left home," Thorin growled, and Bonnie pulled back from her hug to stare at him. "He should never have come. He has no place amongst us. Dwalin!"

The two of them moved off in search of a cave, whilst the others looked at each other in shook at Thorin's reaction. Of course, he had almost just lost his life, but it was not Bilbo's fault that he had fallen from that ledge. Bonnie sighed, and squeezed Bilbo's shoulders once more, before tiredly walking across the small trail towards the tiny clearing she, and the few other Dwarves, had landed on. Dwalin had found a small opening in the rock, and he led the rest of The Company in to see a small, albeit safe-looking, cave.

It seemed Dwalin shared Bonnie's thoughts, because he commented lightly, "It looks safe enough."

"Search to the back," Thorin ordered. "Caves in mountains are seldom unoccupied."

Dwalin nodded, taking a lantern as he searched through the back of the cave for any passages or hiding spots. He came back with good news, announcing, "There's nothing here."

Kili and Fili, still by the Mage's side, moved off towards the back of the cave, settling down for a good sleep whilst they waited for the Storm to wear itself out. Gloin, who was stood in the middle of the cave, dropped a few branched he'd gathered before they entered the mountain.

"Right then!" He said, clapping his hands together. "Let's get a fire started."

"No, No fires, not in this place," Thorin ordered, denying them of the comfort and safety of a fire. "Get some sleep. We start at first light."

The Dwarves and Halflings looked at Thorin in shock, and Balin, the only one really brave enough to stand up to him, pointed out, "We were to wait in the mountains until Gandalf joined us. That was the plan."

"Plans change," Thorin growled. "Bofur, take the first watch."

Bonnie sighed as she rolled out her bed roll, and her blanket, and set her pack down to use as a pillow. Kili was on one side of her, and her other side was occupied by the wall, but it seemed Kili had forgotten about the little mishap they'd had a few days ago, for this was the first time he'd slept beside her since that last night in Rivendell. Since then she had been beside either Bilbo, Bofur or Dwalin, the latter of which had become extremely protective over the young Mage.

Bonnie was lost in her thoughts as she settled down for rest. She folded her hands on her stomach, but didn't get a chance to sleep as Dwalin and Bofur came up to her, wishing her a goodnight with a small,

"Sleep well, little sister," from Bofur, and a "Rest now," from Dwalin. Bonnie nodded to the both of them with a small genuine smile, as she relaxed on her bed roll and tried to sleep. But no, her mind thought that was a bad idea.

Good thing Kili was there to keep her company. He was facing her, his eyes sleepily squinted as he looked at her. Bonnie turned to face him on, her eyes meeting his and staying locked together. A small smile was playing at the corners of his lips, but it suddenly vanished as he scooted closer to her and whispered,

"You really scared me today, Bonnie." The Mage sighed in shame, knowing that he was talking about not only her few stumbles along the trail, but also the crash she'd had with the other Dwarves when the Stone Giant smashed against the cliff. He had been scared out of his wits for her, and his brother. But he had expected to feel an excruciating fear for Fili. He had no idea that he'd feel the same way for the small Halfling that was currently lying by his side, her eyes on his as she searched for forgiveness.

"I'm sorry, Kili," she whispered just as quietly, and her hand found its way into his as he leant forwards and pressed his forehead against hers in a sign of affection and companionship. Bonnie sighed softly, and pressing a kiss to the tip of his nose, she fell asleep with happiness and a small, content smile.

**I know this chapter is a little short, but I thought now would be a good time to end it and move on to the next. I hope you enjoyed this though, and also those little bits between Kili and Bonnie. Anyway, I think this was a good chapter, and hopefully you think it was that could that you should leave a review….maybe….**


	9. An Axe to Grind

**Thank you all so much for the reviews. I know I haven't uploaded in a while, but I'm still waiting for my new laptop, and whenever I use my brothers I have to give him something even though my dad paid for it. I know, annoying right. But what else is there to do but wait for my knew laptop, then rub it in bro's face because mines better, bigger and has a bigger hard drive, all for the same price as his. Yep. Anyway, I own nothing, except for Bonnie, and never will, which is incredibly disappointing. I love you all, and keep reading. This chapter isn't the best though.**

**See you next time...**

"…Where do you think you're going?"

Bonnie's eyes opened slowly at the sound of Bofur's voice, and she wondered vaguely who his question had been presented too. Her eyes, however, flew open completely as she heard Bilbo reply,

"Back to Rivendell." She froze, betrayal seeping through her veins. How could he just leave her like that? Without a goodbye, or a so much of a 'see you soon?'

"No, no, you can't turn back now, you're part of the Company," Bofur protested, and she heard a scrape as he got to his feet. "You're one of us." It was now that Bonnie became aware of the arm wrapped around her waist, and the hand slung over her hip. She slowly looked to the side, and saw Kili sleeping soundly beside her. If it wasn't for Bilbo, she would have smiled.

"I'm not though, am I?" Bilbo shouted quietly. "Thorin said I should never have come, and he was right. I'm not a Took, I'm a Baggins, I don't know what I was thinking. I should never have run out my door."

"But what about Bonnie. You can't leave her, she'll be heart-broken!" Bofur's voice was barely above a whisper, but Bonnie still heard, and she wanted so badly to nod her head in agreement.

Bilbo sighed sadly. "No she won't. She's felt more at home here than she's ever felt with me. And she has Kili, and Dwalin will make sure she's safe, and she had all of you. I won't be missed by her at all. She never liked The Shire the way I did." Bonnie gawped, and would have gotten up to shout at him if it hadn't been from the glance she got from Thorin, who she only just realised now was awake, and listening.

"You're homesick; I understand," Bofur said, trying to sound comforting. But Bilbo shook his head, beginning to feel fed up as he shouted quietly.

"No, you don't, you don't understand! None of you do you're Dwarves. You used to to this life, to living on the road, never settling in one place, not belonging anywhere."

It was obvious that Bofur had looked offended, because Bilbo tried to say, apologising, "I am sorry, I didn't..."

"No, you're right. We don't belong anywhere," Bofur sighed, and there was a moments silence before he said with a small, sad, smile, "I wish you all the luck in the world. I really do." There was more silence, except for the sound of the snores the Dwarves were letting out.

"What's that?"

Bonnie sat up, feeling Kili's arms tighten around her, and saw Bilbo's sword glowing blue, as Gandalf had warned would happen when Goblins or Orcs were nearby. Bonnie gasped, eyes wide, and her hand immediately found Kili's as cracks started to form through the ground, sand falling into them.

"Wake up. Wake up!" Thorin roared, but before anyone could react, the floor of the cave collapsed downwards. Bonnie shrieked, gripping on to the closest thing to her, which just happened to be Kili's torso. The entire Company fell down a chute, slid through a tunnel, and landed in a giant wooden cage in the middle of the Misty Mountain.

Bonnie struggled with a small groan to get up, her back aching from the long fall while the Dwarves grumbled loudly around her. Her arms were still wrapped awkwardly around Kili, her hand pressed between his shoulder blades, and she had landed on top of Bombur and Bifur, who were grumbling beneath her. She muttered a quick sorry as she scrambled to get off of them. But as she struggled, hands suddenly started scratching and pulling at her, her skin, her hair, her clothes, _everything. _

They yanked away her weapons, taking Bonnie's daggers, bow and sword. She was incredibly grateful they didn't find the small blade hidden between her breasts. Kili was shouting in anger, trying to get them to stop manhandling her, but there was too many for the Dwarves and Halfling to fight off, even with their weapons. There were shouts from the Dwarves and hisses from the Goblins (Which was obvious by the sounds of them and the feel of their skin) but they were futile for helping the Dwarves escape.

Bonnie shrieked in pain as one of the Goblins got a painful grip on her hair, using it to drag her along the ground as it yanked her away. Bonnie hissed, and with a sudden furious burning, she launched a flaming fire-ball at its face. She heard it whimper and shriek as it scampered away from her. It was only after this that she realised what she had done, and looked around with wide eyes to see if anyone had saw. Her heart clenched painfully as she saw many of them, even Kili, with wide eyes…

But there was no time for the Dwarves to dwell on it. Given their situation, it would be foolish to focus on anything that wasn't life threatening. So they struggled and kicked and yelled and Bilbo somehow got missed by the Goblins. Bonnie watched as the Goblins, not seeing him, left him behind. He scampered behind some railing to hide as the Goblin horde proceeded through a vast network of tunnels and wooden bridges.

They came out on a large platform of rickety planks of wood. At the far end of the platform, there was a massive, what could only be described as a throne, made of bones and spikes, piled up on each other to make a massive seat of sorts. To Bonnie, it appeared as though anywhere you sat would send a sharp piece of wood poking you in the bum. She wondered how any creature could feel comfortable on that thing.

The Great Goblin himself was a massive _creature, _sitting on the throne, with a mace topped with a skull in his fat sausage hands. He was far larger than any other Goblin, and was incredibly ugly, with warts all over his swinging chin, which was shot through with fatty thick veins. Beneath his feet were a bunch of Goblins piled on top of each other to create some sort of stepping stone for the Goblin King.

He was _horribly _singing a very _horrible _song, about shattering bones, wringing necks, being beaten and battered and hung. It was all very distasteful. The Dwarves, and Bonnie, were not amused.

He finished his song by twirling around on his tiptoes, amidst the cheers of his fellow Goblins. He looked at them for a moment, before climbing back up onto his throne and squishing a few Goblins in the process.

"Catchy isn't it? It's one of my own compositions," he told them, trying for fake polite conversation, where really he was just mocking him. The Dwarves scoffed, and Balin shouted out.

"Tis not a song. It's an abomination!"

"Abomination! Mutation! Deviation! That's all you're gonna find down here." The Goblins cheered once more, as though it were welcoming news.

The Dwarves were brought before him, their weapons thrown in a pile in front of the Great Goblin, who jumped off his throne towards them, at the same time trampling several of the Goblins from beneath his feet. He approached the Dwarves, a malicious smirk on his face as he observed them. Bonnie felt a hand yank her back from clear view, and she was pushed behind Dwalin so she was hidden from the Goblin King. Despite what the Dwarves had just witnessed her do, they didn't wish her any ill-will because of it.

"Who would be so bold as to come armed into my kingdom?" The Great Goblin roared, "Spies? Thieves? Assassins?"

"Dwarves, Your Malevolence," A Goblin answered.

"Dwarves?" The Great Goblin asked.

"We found them on the front porch."

The Great Goblin was silent for a second before he roared, swinging his mace, "Well, don't just stand there; Search them! Every crack, every crevice."

The goblins swamped them, once again continuing with their yanking and pulling in every which way. Bonnie stumbled forwards from a particularly savage shove from one of the Goblins, and would have landed flat on her face had Oin not grabbed her and pulled her back up. Giving a Goblin the perfect opportunity to crush his hearing trumpet under its foot.

The Goblin that had spoken before tipped over a sack that had belonged to Nori, and many objects, souvenirs and keep sacks from Rivendell poured out onto the floor. The Dwarves and Bonnie looked at him in surprise, to see his sheepish face.

"It is my belief, your great malevolence that they are in league with Elves!" The Goblin shouted, handing up a candelabra towards the Great Goblin, who took it with a swipe of his hand.

"Made in Rivendell," he said, pretending to read the bottom of the object. He scoffed, "Second-Age. Couldn't give it away," and threw it off the edge of the platform.

"Just a couple o' keep sacks," Nori murmured, as the Dwarves looked at him.

But Bonnie had worse things to worry about. It appeared the Great Goblin had spotted her, and he roared, "Bring the girl forwards!"

Bonnie shrieked loudly as the Goblins grabbed her hair and threw her forwards in front of the Great Goblin, amidst the Dwarves shouts of protest. Seething with fury at the continuous manhandling, she slowly stood back to her feet, squaring her shoulders as she stared defiantly up at the Goblin King.

"Now," The Goblin breathed, leaning down so his disgusting breathe came out in a revolting cloud around Bonnie's face. She coughed and gasped, waving her hand wildly in front of her face to get rid of the smell. The Great Goblin continued, "What is a pretty little thing like you doing with a bunch of Dwarf-filth?"

Bonnie stayed silent, refusing to mutter so much as one word to give away her Company. She'd rather be squished into jelly by Trolls than do such thing. But the Great Goblin was persistent.

"Tell me! Speak!" Bonnie spat at his feet, her arms crossed in defiance, and the Great Goblin king bellowed in fury at her dis-respect. Bonnie held her ground as he swooped down on her, hoping to intimidate her into speaking. Her mouth never opened.

From behind her, the Dwarves, mainly Fil, Kili, Bofur and Dwalin, were glaring in fury and concern at the female Halfling, the thought of the Goblin King killing her right then and there in front of them bringing an unimaginable pain to their chest. Dwalin, as though he had lost a daughter, Fili and Bofur a sister, and Kili a lover… All of which she was not.

"What are you doing in these parts? Speak!" This time his question was directed to all of them, Bonnie _and _the Dwarves, but once again, none of them responded. The Great Goblin sniffed in anger, before shoving the butt of his mace into Bonnie's stomach and pushing her backwards. She stumbled backwards into the Dwarves, and Thorin and Bifur caught her, immediately moving her into the middle of the crowd.

Oin stepped forwards now, patting Thorin on the shoulder as he said, "I'll handle this lads."

"No tricks! I want the truth," The Great Goblin shouted. "Warts, and all…"

Oin stared at him blankly for a moment, before holding up his broken ear trumpet and shouting, "You're going to have to speak up! You're boys flattened me trumpet!"

"I'll flatten more than your trumpet!" The Goblin king thundered as he climbed down from his throne. The Goblins cowered in fear, whilst the Dwarves held their ground. The Great Goblin smashed a few of the Goblins off the platform, so Bofur jumped forwards to yell,

"If it's more information you're wanting, I'm the one you should speak too!" He said. The Goblin King looked for a moment as though he were going to kill the hatted Dwarf, before he sighed and gestured for him to go on.

"We were on the road. Well it's not so much a road as it is a path. Actually, it's not even that, come to think of it, it's more like a track. Anyway, the point is, we were on this road, like a path, like a track…and then we weren't! Which is a problem, because we were supposed to be in Dunland last Tuesday…" He looked back at the rest of the Dwarves, and Bonnie, expecting them to agree.

"…Visiting distant relations!" Dori shouted, leaning forwards to add more credibility to their story.

"So many prayers on my mothers' side-" Bofur was cut off as the Great Goblin roared loudly,

"SHUT UUUUUUP!" They fell silent, not taking their eyes off of the Great Goblin as they waited for him to make a move. The Goblins squeaked and cowered, whilst Bofur just closed his mouth and tilted his head. The Great Goblin shouted to his fellows, "Well then, if they will not talk, we'll make them squawk! Bring out the Mangler! Bring out the Bone Breaker! Start with the youngest."

The Great Goblin pointed to Ori, who trembled in fear, but he was saved as Thorin stepped forwards and called out, "Wait."

"Well, well, well, look who it is. Thorin son of Thrain, son of Thror; King under the Mountain." The Great Goblin bowed in exaggeration. "Oh, but I'm forgetting, you don't have a mountain. And you're not a king. Which makes you nobody, really. I know someone who would pay a pretty price for your head. Just the head, nothing attached. Perhaps you know of whom I speak, an old enemy of yours. A Pale Orc astride a White Warg."

Thorin, either not believing Bonnie's words from all those night ago, or just wanting to confirm them, said in anger and disbelief, "Azog the Defiler was destroyed. He was slain in battle long ago."

"So you think his defiling days are done, do you?" The Great Goblin bellowed out a laugh, and turned to a tiny disfigured Goblin sitting in a basket holding a slate. "Send word to the Pale Orc; Tell him I have found his prize," He ordered, and the tiny Goblin wrote down the message on his slate. Cackling, he then pulled a lever, causing his basket to start sliding down a system of roped into the darkness.

Dozens of Goblins came forwards carrying massive instruments of torture on their shoulders after that, bringing them to the Great Goblin. Meanwhile, the Great Goblin was singing and dancing lustily.

_Bones will be shattered, necks will be wrung!  
>You'll be beaten and battered,<br>from racks you'll be hung.  
>You will lie down here and never be found,<br>down in the deep of Goblin town._

Grinnah, one of the goblins, was examining the weapons the Dwarves brought with them. He picked up Thorin's sword, Orcrist, and slide it a few inches out of its sheath, before shrieking in horror as he recognised it. He threw it down in view of all the goblins, all of which howled in fear and rage as they retreated from it; The Great Goblin ran rapidly to his throne, trampling many goblins on his way. He spoke loudly, pointing at the sword.

"I know that sword! It is the Goblin Cleaver, the Biter, the blade that sliced a thousand necks." As he spoke, Grinnah and the rest of the Goblins began whipping the Dwarves with ropes and leaping upon them, biting and slashing. One powerful slash landed across Bonnie's face, making her stagger and fall to the ground. Her left cheek throbbed, and a sticky hot liquid that could only be blood began trickling down her face, curving over her jaw, down her neck, under the collar of her corset.

"Slash them! Beat them! Kill them! Kill them all! Cut off his head!"

Before the Goblins had done more then only holding a blade to Thorin's neck, did a massive explosion of light fill the dark and dank mountain. Bonnie threw a hand up to shield her eyes, and her ears started ringing as a shockwave ripped through the area, flinging Goblins in the air and destroying their torture machines.

Everyone was knocked down, including the Great Goblin, and Bonnie found herself sprawled, underneath Gloin, who looked down at her, said nothing, and pulled her back to her feet. He turned away from her with barely a sparing glance. Bonnie frowned in sadness, knowing exactly what his cold-shoulder was about. Her little display of magic back there, that'd had most of the Dwarves looking at her as though she were a completely different person, had caused strong feelings of betrayal in many of her closest friends amongst the Dwarves. Dwalin, Bofur, Ori, Fili…Kili.

When the force of the explosion had passed, most of the lights in the area have been snuffed out; In the background, a shadow with a tall pointy hat walked up, and Bonnie felt a flicker of hope light up in her chest. It is Gandalf, holding his staff and his sword, Glamdring. Light was slowly returning to the area as the Goblins and the Dwarves slowly looked up, recovering from the shock. They all stared at Gandalf in surprise, and only jumped up into action as he roared,

"Take up arms. Fight. Fight!"

Bonnie grabbed her daggers and sword, slung her bow and quiver over her shoulder, and fought.

**Boom, finished. Hope you liked, and all that stuff. I'm kinda sad now cause I just watched Avatar. The ones with the blue alien people, and the clans, and eywa and stuff. It's really good, but people die and I get sad. Anyway, keep reading and I'll see you soon.**


	10. Of Body and Soul

**Well, welcome back. Yes, I've been uploading a lot lately, which I'm probably going to regret later because I'm running out of ideas for writing. But still, you deserve it because you're all fantastic and I love you all. Remember I own nothing and that I also love it when you review. Thanks.  
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_**See you next time...**_

The Dwarves and Bonnie jumped as quickly as they could and gathered their weapons in mere seconds, before swinging them around at the recovering Goblins. Bonnie, glad to have the chance to get back at some of the ugly buggers for the pain they had caused her and her friends, viciously stabbed Grinnah in the chest. She felt a very strong sense of satisfaction as he fell down, over the edge of the platform, and even more as a few of his mates joined him, thanks to Bonnie's doing.

Using her sword to slice across the back of a Goblins legs, Bonnie jumped to Bofur's side as he battled against four Goblins at once. She took one down with a quick slit of the throat, giving Bofur plenty of time to finish off the others.

"Thanks, little sister," he shouted, and despite the situation, Bonnie smiled in relief that he didn't seem to angry or betrayed by her secret. In fact, based on the smile he gave her, he seemed to be rather delighted. If only she could be certain that the other Dwarves would feel the same way.

With a quick jab of one of her daggers to the jugular of a rather hideous Goblin that had tried to throttle her, Bonnie sent not one, but four more Goblins off the edge of the platform. Guess she was really good at that, right?

"He wields the Foe Hammer, the Beater, bright as daylight!" The Great Goblin roared as it spotted Gandalf's weapon, and charging forwards, he swung his mace at Nori who had fallen to the ground in his mad scramble for a weapon to defend himself.

"Nori!" One of the Dwarves shouted, and catching Thorin's attention, the Durin-King jumped forwards and deflected the Great Goblin's blow. The impact caused the Goblin King to stumble backwards, his mace swinging widely, and fall off the edge of his platform to the depths below, taking a few of his minions with him.

"Follow me!" Gandalf shouted, gesturing with his staff for them to follow. "Quick! Run!"

Cutting down all of the Goblins around them, the Dwarves, Bonnie and Gandalf ran along a pathway leading away from the throne room. They moved through the suspended passageways of Goblin Town, with hundreds, maybe thousands, of its inhabitants chasing after them.

"Quickly!" Gandalf shouted, and another Dwarf added,

"Faster!"

Dwalin, seeing several of the Goblins running at them from upfront, roared, "Post!"

He and some of the other Dwarves cut a guardrail post from the side of the path and held it out in front of them like a massive spear, effectively being able to knock each and every single one of the Goblins that came for them.

"Charge!" Dwalin roared, and together he and a few other Dwarves ran forwards, sweeping the oncoming Goblins off their feet, and off the platform. Dropping the rail, Dwalin pulled out his axes and began knocking aside goblins, the rest of the company doing the same. Gloin hit one goblin who fell and landed on another suspended path, breaking the path and dropping all the goblins on it into the darkness below. The rest of the Company also fought the goblins around them with their various weapons and fighting styles.

Bonnie froze, however, when mid-swing at a Goblin, she spotted several others snarl as they swung on ropes toward her, Gandalf and the Dwarves.

"Cut the ropes!" Thorin roared, and Bonnie lunged forwards to slice through the tick rope tying a piece of bridge to her platform. It fell outwards, entangling the Goblins swinging towards them. They moved on once more, slicing and cutting down all Goblins in their path.

Bonnie came to a halt behind Kili, the latter of which was blocking arrows fired from Goblins with his sword. Not very good defence. Bonnie got ready to jump forwards if he was harmed, to light them on fire with a flick of her wrist, but Kili grabbed an old nearby ladder and held it in front of him, before throwing it down on the oncoming Goblins. He, Bonnie, and a few other Dwarves ran forwards, pushing the ladder and the Goblins it had trapped in front of them.

Together, they approached a missing area in the patch where the planks had fallen away. Kili and Bonnie pushed the ladder forwards so the Goblins fell down into the darkness, and then dropped it so it acted as a make-shift bridge for the Dwarves and Mage to cross to the rest of the path. As soon as they crossed it, and all the Dwarves were safely on the other side, Dwalin broke the ladder with a quick swipe of his axe, breaking it apart so it feel into the depths of the mountain, and prevented more Goblins from following after them.

"Quickly!" Gandalf shouted from up ahead, and he led the Dwarves and Bonnie through the maze-like paths. They eventually approached a section of the path suspended by ropes from above, and slicing some ropes to release one end from the other, the Company jumped onto it. It swung off to another path, connecting them to a separate Goblin-free path. Around half The Company, including Bonnie and Kili, jumped at Thorin's command. However, before the rest could, the suspended path swung back like a pendulum to where it started, and several Goblins leaped on. As the path swung back again, the rest of the Dwarves and Gandalf managed to jump to the new path as well; Fili, being the last to jump, cut the ropes, causing the swinging path and the goblins on it to fall.

The Dwarves, Bonnie and Gandalf continued running through the tunnels, killing all the Goblins in their way with quick slashes and chops of their blades. Some of the more defenceless Dwarves even went as far as kicking them off the platform. But the Goblins kept coming, and as they grew closer to a turn, it was obvious that unless they did something quick, they would not make it out of the Misty Mountains.

But Bonnie had an idea. Being at the front of the group, she took a massive leap and tapped her hand lightly on the underside of a cliff. A large round boulder came down at her command, and began rolling forwards. _What the hell, _Bonnie thought. _If they already know, might as well make sure they _stay alive_ to know._ The Rock rolled in front of her and The Company, squishing all the Goblins in their way. A few of the Dwarves made small sounds of being impressed, while others were shocked, and if she wasn't mistaken, Bonnie could have sworn she'd heard Gandalf chuckle.

The rock bounced once as Bonnie flicked her hand up, and came crashing back down on the edge of the cliff, smashing a few Goblins and breaking the edge off. Bonnie grinned despite herself, and swerved around the corner. Gandalf was by her side now, and as she caught his eye, he gave her a small smile and a wink of approval, glad that she had finally let the Dwarves know.

Soon, they approached a bridge between two walls of the cavern, and as they tried to cross it, much there surprise, the Great Goblin suddenly broke through from underneath the bridge and pulled himself up onto the planks, in front of the Company. The Dwarves, Mage and Wizard paused, the Wizard pushing the Mage into the Dwarves straight away to keep her safe. She was caught by Thorin, who himself pushed her behind them so she would be safe. He'd never admit it, but he's grown fond of the girl, and was not prepared to see her hurt.

"You thought you could escape me?" The Great Goblin roared, swinging his mace twice at Gandalf, and causing him to stumble backwards. Thee Dwarves caught him and pushed his back up onto his feet. "What are you going to do now, wizard?" The Goblin King continued.

Gandalf, surprising everyone with his bravery, leaped forwards and struck the Great Goblin in the eye with his staff. The Great Goblin dropped his mace and clutched his face in pain, squealing, "Ow, ow, ow!"

Gandalf, not finished, stepped forwards and sliced the Great Goblin in the belly, who then fell to his knees, clutching at the wound. He hesitated for a moment, his eyes looking up as though he were thinking, before he sighed and said casually, "That'll do it."

Gandalf, finishing off his kill, again swung his sword and slit the Great Goblin's throat, causing him to fall down dead.

But that wasn't the end of their problems, oh no. His weight caused the bridge to start shaking, and suddenly, the section of the bridge on which the company was standing broke away from the rest, and started sliding down the side of the cavern. Bonnie, along with many of the Dwarves, screamed in terror as she clung as tight as she could to the bridge. She was clinging to the same post as Bofur, and together they met each other's eyes, took a deep breathe, and started screaming again in each others faces. It would have been very comical had they not been falling to their possible deaths.

The bridge slid at a terrific speed down the cavern's wall, demolishing everything in its way; The Dwarves clung on, screaming in terror, until the bridge slowed down and landed at the base of the cavern, breaking apart and burying the Dwarves, Bonnie and Gandalf in the timber and wood. Gandalf got up from the pile of wreckage and inspected the rest of the Dwarves, who were still stuck in the wreckage. Bonnie herself was crushed not only underneath the bridge, but under Bombur as well, who had somehow managed to fall on top of her.

"Get off me!" She shouted in annoyance, squirming and wiggling her arms. She was on her stomach, and he was lying across her, with her dangling down in Dwalin's face.

"Well, that could have been worse," Bofur said, and Bonnie thought back to the look on his face as they fell before a grin cracked onto her face. She went to make a retort, before she coughed as the huge weight of the Goblin King's corpse landed on her, and something pocked hard into her stomach. She coughed again, and looked on in horror as something dripped down her lip and landed with a splat on Dwalin's forehead. A dark red, almost black substance that sent her heart into a crazy beat.

"You've got to be joking!" Dwalin shouted, thinking it was the Goblin king's blood that had landed on his forehead. As the Dwarves extricated themselves from the rubble, Bonnie caught a glimpse of Kili's face and froze at the sight of terror he had woven through his features.

"Gandalf!" He shouted in warning, drawing their attention to the swarm of Goblins racing down the side of the inside of the mountain towards them. Bonnie groaned in annoyance, knowing that more running was coming, and tried to get up. She stumbled down to the ground, and the Dwarves with their attention on the Goblins, it was only her that spotted the thin piece of plank sticking out just above her belly button. It wasn't to large, and she pulled it out without to much trouble, despite the sharp pain.

"There's too many! We can't fight them," Dwalin shouted, and Bonnie looked up once more, her attention divided between the pain in her stomach and the sight of the swarming Goblins.

"Only one thing will save us: daylight!" Gandalf shouted, and ordered them all, "Come on! Here, on your feet!"

Once the Company was free from the mess of the bridge, they all ran, as fast as they could possibly go, after Gandalf, trusting him to lead them to safety. Bonnie kept a hand firmly pressed to her stomach, and followed, her jaw set into a determined grimace.

**Yay, finished chapter, I know you might be a tad confused about what just happened to Bonnie, and might be wondering if she's okay or not, but you're just gonna have to wait for the next chapter. And I know this one was a tad shorter than the others, but the last one was really long so I thought you'd handle it for a little while. Sorry about that. So just remember to read and review, and remember that I own nothing but Bonnie, okay? Thanks again! Bye!**

**See you next Sunday…**


	11. To Fight Fire with Fire

**New Chapter! Thanks for the reviews. **

Bonnie and Company raced as fast as they could down the dangerous forest slope, but adrenaline kept them on their feet. It was going dark outside, sunset, meaning they had not been in there for just a few hours. Also meaning they were thoroughly exhausted, and ready to get as far away from the Misty Mountains, and its inhabitants, as fast as possible.

"Five, six, seven, eight...Bifur, Bofur...that's ten...Fili, Kili...that's twelve...and Bombur, Bonnie that makes fourteen," Gandalf counted as the Dwarves and the Mage ran passed him, into a small clearing where the other Dwarves had come to a halt. Gandalf smiled at all of them for barely a second, before asking. "Where's Bilbo? Where is our Hobbit? Where is our hobbit?!"

They all looked around each other for the Halfling, the lot of them feeling a panic rise in their chests, and Dwalin shouted in anger and worry, "Curse the Halfling! Now he's lost?!"

"I thought he was with Dori!" Gloin shouted, and the accused shot back defensively,

"Don't blame me!"

"Well, where did you last see him?" Gandalf asked in a rush.

"I think I saw him slip away," Nori called out, holding his finger up in realisation. "When they first collared us."

"What happened exactly?" Gandalf asked, and when he didn't get an answer straight away, he roared, "Tell me!"

"I'll tell you what happened," Thorin growled to Gandalf. "Master Baggins saw his chance and he took it! He's thought of nothing but his soft bed and his warm hearth since first he stepped out of his door! We will not be seeing our Hobbit again. He is long gone."

Bonnie shook her head, and despite what she had heard between her brother and Bofur the previous day, she stepped forwards and said, "No, he wouldn't just leave me like that. He couldn't…" She looked around at the Dwarves, each one of them throwing her sympathetic looks as her eyes betrayed what she was feeling. Defeat, and sadness, and grief. And pain.

"No, he isn't."

Bonnie spun on her heels at the sound of Bilbo's voice, and she immediately spotted him stepping out from behind a tree. Relief swamped through her like a tidal wave, and she would have launched herself forwards to hug him had Gandalf not shouted out,

"Bilbo Baggins! I've never been so glad to see anyone in my life!"

Bilbo strode forwards into the group, and patting Balin affectionately on the shoulder, smiled around at the lot of them, his eyes lingering on Bonnie for a moment that made his eyes spark in happiness at the sight of her. Ever since this journey had started, he hadn't gotten much of a chance to talk to her, to settle down and have a real conversation.

"Bilbo, we'd given you up!" Kili admitted with blatant relief, smiling widely.

"How on earth did you get past the Goblins?!" Fili asked, and Dwalin added,

"How, indeed."

There was an awkward silence, one that Bonnie was sure only she, Bilbo and Gandalf felt, before Bilbo gave a nervous laugh and put his hands on his hips. Bonnie frowned in confusion as she noticed him slip something shiny and yellow into his pocket. But before she could voice her observation, Gandalf called out.

"Well, what does it matter? He's back!"

"It matters!" Thorin shouted, coming forwards to look more thoroughly at the Hobbit. "I want to know: why did you come back?"

Bilbo sighed, before looking at him. "Look, I know you doubt me," he said. "I know you always have. And you're right, I often think of Bag End. I miss my books. And my armchair. And my garden. See, that's where I belong. That's home. And that's why I came back, because you don't have one. A home. It was taken from you. But I will help you take it back if I can." He grinned, and added, "Do you really think I could leave my only sister behind?"

At that Bonnie laughed and threw herself at her brother, wrapping her arms around his shoulders as she hugged him tightly. Bilbo huffed in surprise, but with a small chuckle, hugged her back.

"What's that?" The frown in his voice had Bonnie pulling back, and she followed his gaze to his hand, which was covered in thick, drying blood. Bilbo looked up at her with wide eyes, and asked urgently, "Are you hurt?"

Bonnie, eyes wide, only just started feeling the pain. The adrenaline was leaving her system, and so was the happiness at seeing her brother, only leaving her with an exhausted, dizzy head and a sharp aching pain right above her belly button.

Many of the Dwarves swooped down on her, looking her all over to check for the wound. But it was obvious, based on the large blood stain on her back and belly, and the hole right through the middle of her stomach. She would've collapsed in surprise had Kili and Dwalin not caught her, and gently lowered her to the ground. Bofur took off his hat and placed it under her head, before backing off to let Gandalf have a look at her.

She felt Kili and Dwalin start to move back from her, but her hands immediately clutched hard onto theirs, needing at least one of them by her. She had come to love them both very much, both in very different ways. Dwalin, as some sort of father figure, a protector, and Kili, as someone she could never live without…

Who was she kidding…She was in love with him. And she had only just now come to realise it.

But there was more important matters at hand. Gandalf pressed a hand to her forehead, and immediately a swooping sensation went through her, like what it felt like when she changed forms. The scorching heat, then the burning cold, then absolute calmness, so thick it felt like she was suffocating in it.

She hadn't even realised her eyes were closed until they flew open, and a scream that was soundless left her mouth. Her lips formed the noise, but nothing came out, just an endless silent shriek. Her hips bucked in pain, and her nails scratched the dirt for something to hold onto. The wind picked up around her, howling loudly to voice her pain as her abilities spiralled out of control. Around her, the grass shrivelled and died, the tress rustled loudly in tongues that only she could understand, the animals scampered up to the edge of the forest to watch. The Dwarves watched as nature went crazy around them, knowing that it was Bonnie's doing, and being both terrified and intrigued at the same instant.

One Dwarf, however, had only eyes for her, his hand clutched just as tightly around hers as hers was around his. Kili would not let go until he was absolutely certain that she was safe, and happy, and cared for. Because she deserved as much.

Gandalf removed his hand after a few moments, his eyes turning from grave to relief as she relaxed into the ground, a sigh leaving her lips. Her eyes fluttered closed, then opened, adjusting to the suddenly blinding light shining into the corner of her eyes.

She looked over at Kili, who was squeezing her hand, and froze, her breathe dying in her lungs at the sight of him. He was radiating! A bright glowing light was shining from all around him, so bright she had to squint just to make out his features. He was gazing at her with barely concerned worry, knowing that her wounds were healed but wondering what the look was for.

Bonnie, surprising even herself, reached up a hand and stroked his cheek, feeling his stubble scrape against her fingers. It might have been the delirium, or just the fact that she was so desperate to hope for it, but for a moment it felt as though he had leant into her hand. A strange feeling went through her, like she was walking in starlight…

Slowly, but surely, the light died down, with each and every reluctant blink she took. But it was good timing though. As she came out of what felt like a daze, she sat up and looked around, her brow furrowed in confusion as she looked around at the surrounding Dwarves, Hobbit and Wizard.

Before she could say a word, a howl split the air. Not wind this time, no. Something much more deadly. Wargs.

And Wargs meant Orcs.

"Out of the frying pan..." Thorin sighed, hearing the Wargs and practically giving up hope of rest.

"...and into the fire!" Gandalf finished, before shouting loudly, "Run! RUN!"

Bonnie was yanked to her feet by Kili and Dwalin, the former not letting go of her hand. In case she trips or stumbles, he told himself. But he knew that, deep down, that was not the only reason.

They all started running down the mountain as fast as they could, The Wargs following them rapidly. It wasn't long before the foremost Wargs caught up with them, and leaped at Bilbo. Bonnie moved in front of him, and with a slash of her sword, sent it falling to the ground with blood pouring from it neck. She wiped her sword on her already bloodied corset, and ran onwards.

Another Warg jumped in front of the Hobbit, backing him up against a tree. It growled, baring its teeth, and lunged forwards. But using one of the most basic methods of defence, Bilbo used its own weight and speed against it, impaling the beast right through the forehead due to its own fault. It went slack, and fell down dead, Bilbo's sword sticking out of its head. Seeing the surprised look on his face had Bonnie grinning slightly as she ran on down the slope to a large outcrop with trees growing out of it.

They were trapped, there was no way off the outcrop besides the great fall down the mountain. They paused beneath the large thin pine trees, wondering which way to go, before Gandalf came up with a brilliant idea that might just save their lives.

"Up into the trees, all of you!" He shouted, gesturing them forwards. "Come on, climb! Bilbo, climb!"

Bonnie, using her ability, sent a branch growing down to her height so it wrapped around her torso and pulled her up. She did the same for the others, bringing the branches down lower for them to climb on faster and easier. Kili swung up around a branch into her tree, before reaching his hand down and pulling up Fili. They continued climbing up the tree until they were by her side, on the thinnest branches that could still hold their weight.

A few of the Dwarves were still running, and Bonnie watched with barely concealed concern as Bofur jumped off a rock and grabbed a tree branch, using Dwalin's head as a stepping stone to the tree.

"They're coming!" Thorin roared, warning the rest of them to hurry up and get to safety. Dwalin boosted Balin up into a tree. Thorin, Bombur, and the rest climbed up their own trees as well. Bonnie sighed in relief, thinking they were all safe. That is, until she looked down to see how far the Wargs were, and spotted her brother trying to pull his sword out of a Wargs head.

"Bilbo!" She screamed, and got fully prepared to jump out of the tree to grab him and hoist him up to safety. If it wasn't for the arms Kili and Fili kept wrapped around her, she would have launched herself at her brother and forced him to leave his sword behind.

But finally, he managed to get it out, just in time too, to see several more Wargs running towards him. He froze for a single second, before scampering towards the trees the Dwarves, Wizard and Mage were hidden in. He launched himself up, pulling his feet up just in time to keep a Warg from ripping them off, and scrambled up the branches.

From below them, dozens of Wargs circled the trees, whining and grunting to each other in their own secret tongue.

_Kill them! Eat them! Tear them apart! _Bonnie shuttered at their words, and wished for not the first time in her life that she did not have the ability to talk to animals. Well, not really talk to them, but rather understand them. The Wargs glared up into the trees where The Company was perched, trying to find a weak spot to get them down.

But the Wargs suddenly ceased their growling as a white subject approached slowly up a large rock. The White Warg, with its rider Azog on its back. Bonnie looked at him, and around her, a black fire flames up around her hands, licking up her arms, to show her fury. This was the man that slaughtered her family, murdered her parents, slayed her sisters, and left her homeless and alone.

"Azog?!" Thorin himself was completely shocked, disgusted, in denial, at the sight of the Pale Orc. It had been many years since he had seen Azog, and in that time he had believed him dead. This realisation, that Bonnie. And the Great Goblin had been right, was like a punch to the stomach.

The White Warg growled ferally, and stroking its fur, Azog spoke.

"Nuzdigid? Nuzdi gast?" _Do you smell it? The scent of fear?_ "Ganzilig i unarug obod nauzdanish, Torin undag Train ob." _I remember your father reeked of it, Thorin son of Thrain._

Stricken with pain and grief, Thorin came to the realisation that his father was, indeed, dead, and at the hands of Azog too.

"It cannot be," he breathed, not wanting to believe that his not only his grandfather, but his father, had fell to the same fate. Death, by the Pale Orc.

Azog spoke, ordering his Wargs and their riders, "Kod, Toragid biriz." _That one is mine_. "Worori da!" _Kill the others!_

At his command, the Wargs leapt forwards and started scratching at the trees with their claws, trying to climb up to get to their 'prey.' They jumped as high as they could, scrabbling at the tree trunks and breaking apart branches in their jaws in their efforts. The trees shook violently at the assault, and the Dwarves struggled to hold on. Bonnie kept a firm grip, and used her powers to whip branches down at the Wargs, beating them away as best as she could without being able to see. Kili and Fili were blocking her from having a clear view of what she was doing, causing her to not be able to use the full extent of her gifts without hurting any of her friends.

"Sho gad adol!"_ Drink their blood!_

With the weight of the Wargs climbing it, the furthest tree from the edge of the cliff, which Bilbo and several other Dwarves were in, got uprooted from the ground and began leaning wildly. As more Wargs grabbed onto it, the tree tipped over and landed on the next tree; The Dwarves and Bilbo jumped from the falling tree to the next, the one with Bonnie, Kili and Fili. However, from the added weight, this tree as well tipped over; Like dominoes, all the trees began falling over. All the Dwarves, Bonnie, Bilbo, and Gandalf managed to jump onto the last tree, on the very edge of the cliff, the most unstable. So it was very confusing when this tree didn't fall over, but still a huge relief to the Company.

Azog laughed, a deep grumble like rocks on granite. Looking around in desperation, Gandalf spied a pinecone. He grabbed it and, using his staff, set the pinecone on fire; He then threw it down amid the Wargs, who retreated in fear of the fire. Azog, startled and angry at the unexpected resistance, growled angrily as Gandalf lit two more pinecones and threw one down to Fili.

"Fili!" he shouted to the Dwarve, and he caught it easily. Throwing it from hand to hand from the heat, he waited for Bilbo and a few of the other Dwarves to light more pinecones to throw like missiles at the Wargs. Help with her own powers, Bonnie controlled the fire that started on the ground, making it flame up at the Wargs and send them backwards. The few that got to close were unfortunate enough to catch fire, their fur burning as they howled and scampered off to find water.

Azog roared in anger and frustration as the Dwarves cheered, feeling more hopeful. But suddenly, their cheers turned to cries of fear as the roots of the tree they were in started to give way; The tree tipped precariously over the edge of the cliff, but much to their relief, came to a rest sticking straight out away from the edge of the cliff. Bonnie, not being able to help herself, looked down and saw the ground far, far, below. The Dwarves tried to hold on as they got flung around. Ori even lost his grip on the tree and fell, but managed to grab on to Dori's leg.

"Aahhh! Oh! Oh no!" Ori cried in fear.

"Mister Gandalf!" Dori wailed.

Because of the extra weight, Dori lost his grip on the tree as well and started to fall, but Gandalf quickly swung his staff down and Dori grabbed on to the end of it.

"Hold on, Ori!" The Dwarve cried out to his brother.

Bonnie clung as tight as she could to the tree, wishing for once that her powers allowed her to grow trees. Whilst she could control them, their branches and their leaves, she couldn't completely move them. It was taking all she could give just to keep the tree where it was. And her control was slipping. Across from her, Kili was struggling hard, his arms wrapped tight around a thin branch. His face was scrunched up in pain, but as Bonnie looked at him, he opened his eyes to stare right back, his eyes gazing into hers. She could see his arms slipping, and with strong resolve, she told him,

"Don't let go, Kili. Whatever you do, don't let go." Nobody else heard the few words she gave him. They were either too busy holding on, or watching in horror as Thorin, his face set into a determined frown of hate and anger, got to his feet, sword drawn, and walking down the leaning trunk. With a burning rage, he ran through the burning ground at Azog and his What Warg, but all the Pale Orc did was spread his arms wide with a smug grin on his scarred face.

Thorin growled, deep and feral, as he ran with his sword up and his oaken branch shield held in front of him. Azog crouched, then roared as his Warg leaped at Thorin. The Durin kind swung his sword, but he wasn't quick enough, the White Warg hitting him in the chest with its forepaws and smashing Thorin to the ground. The other Dwarves in the tree looked on in shock, hoping upon hope that Thorin would get up and fight, and _win. _

"Help!" Ori screamed, struggling to hold on to his brothers legs. Dori appeared to be in just as much pain, his arms slipping from their hold around the tree.

Thorin, slowly, got back on his feet, panting hard. Smiling in satisfaction, Azog and his White Warg wheeled around; They charged at him again, this time Azog swinging his mace and smashing Thorin in the face before could even react. Brutally, he was flung to the ground by the impact.

"Nooo!" Balin cried, not being able to do anything from his position hanging from the tree.

Azog roared in excitement, and it was that sound that made Bonnie square her jaw in anger and hoist herself up onto the trunk. But Bilbo got their first. They stood and watched for barely a second as The White Warg clamped its jaw around Thorin and squeeze hard, the Dwarf yelling in pain, before being thrown to the edge of the cliff. He came to a halt just at the edge, only a metre from falling off.

Dwalin tries to get off and tree to assist Thorin, but the tree branches he is holding on to break, swinging him precariously over the edge and preventing him from reaching Thorin.]

"Thorin! Nooo!" Dwalin shouted as he tried to get off the tree to assist his king. But the tree branch he was holding onto broke, swinging him precariously over the edge and preventing him from reaching Thorin.

It was then that Bonnie and her brother ran forwards, staying absolutely silent as they moved quietly and quickly forwards.

"Biriz torag khobdudol." _Bring me the Dwarf's head._

One of Azog's Warg Riders jumped off his Warg and approached Thorin. Bilbo and Bonnie, seeing this, pulled out their swords, one glowing blue and the other white from the light of the moon. The orc approached Thorin and places its sword against his neck; Raising the sword, the rider prepared to decapitate The Dwarf. But as he swung his sword down, Bilbo and Bonnie threw themselves at the orc and knocked him over, the both of them stabling their swords into its chest. It struggled for a few seconds, then fell limp, dead.

Azog growled in anger as Bonnie and Bilbo pulled their swords from the Orc and hurried to their feet to stand in front of the unconscious Thorin, protecting his body. Bilbo waved his sword wildly, trying to appear intimidating and dangerous, whilst Bonnie just stood her ground, her eyes roaming over the Orcs and Wags as she waited for an attack. Her sword was at the ready, held still in her hand and waiting for the slightest hint of threatening movement.

Azog smiled in hatred and spoke in the Black Speech to his Orcs; _Kill them!_

A couple of Wargs and Riders approached Bonnie and Bilbo, snarling maliciously. But before they even moved a few centimetres, Fili, Kili, and Dwalin, who had managed to get off the tree, ploughed into the Wargs from the side and started fighting them. Bonnie sucked in a deep breath, before throwing herself into the throng, slashing and stabbing at the Wargs and their riders.

She stuck her sword into a Wargs shoulder, before rolling across the ground onto one knee and throwing a dagger at a Warg getting dangerously too close to Dwalin. She spun on her knee, and shoved her sword up through another Wargs jaw, before, her sword stuck there, she pulled out another dagger and sent it into its riders head before the Orc could even react.

She jumped back to her feet and spun around, jaw tightening in frustration as she realised she was surrounded. The riderless Wargs growled and snapped their jaws threateningly, taking small steps forwards as they crowded in on her. Bonnie flickered her graze from them, to the Dwarves, to Bilbo, before she burned hot and cold right before their eyes, and erupted into a soaring black falcon, one so large it was even bigger than the Dwarves.

She screeched, and swooping down at them, she aimed her talons at the eyes, scratching and tearing and blinding them, before flying off and away, before coming back again. The Wargs, whining at the disappearance of 'the girl' cowered, before running off, blood trailing from their faces.

She tweeted in satisfaction, flapping her wings softly, before swooping back down to the ground, at the same time shifting back to her Halfling form as she landed. But at that instant, something very peculiar happened.

She was flying again, only this time it wasn't by any doing of her. It was an eagle, a huge eagle, and it had her gripped tightly in her talons. As it flew over the edge of the cliff, it released her, and a small shriek escaped her lips before she landed once more, this time on the back of one of the eagles.

She looked around in shock, realising that there were a dozen of them, each of them carrying the Dwarves in their talons or on their backs. Bonnie sighed in relief as she realised that she had joined Bofur and Bifur on their Eagle, and that the others were just as safe. She was particularly happy to spot Kili and Fili on the back of a brown eagle.

"Thorin!" Fili shouted out, and Bonnie turned to see he was trying to get the attention of his uncle, who was lying, still unconscious, in an eagles talons. Bonnie, worried out of her mind, surprised everyone by jumping off of her eagle.

"BONNIE!" Many of them shouted in horror, before being cut off mid scream as right before their eyes she turned into a small black bird. She flittered through the air, before coming to land on Thorin's chest to stare down at him. She chirped, but he made no signs of recognition to the sound. She stayed with him though, just in case.

Eventually, The Eagles approached a massive rock structure shaped like a bear; It was the Carrock. The Eagle carrying Thorin gently deposited him and his sword on a flat area on top of the Carrock, as well as Bonnie, who immediately changed into that of her Halfling form. Another Eagle landed on the Carrock and Gandalf slid off its neck, running toward the unconscious Thorin.

"Thorin! Thorin," he said, kneeling beside the unresponsive Dwarf. Sighing, and knowing that some magic was need, Gandalf placed his hand on Thorin's forehead and whispered a spell, causing the Dwarfs eyes to flutter open. He gasped for air, before speaking weakly,

"The Halflings?"

"It's all right. They're here. They're quiet safe."

By now, the other Dwarves had all been landed on the Carrock, and had surround the wounded Thorin. Though they couldn't quite stop themselves from looking over at Bonnie occasionally. Dwalin and Kili moved help Thorin up, but once he was back on his feet, he shrugged them off and approached the two Halfling.

"You! What were you doing?" He roared, and many of the Dwarves felt their mouths fall open in surprise and confusion. "You nearly got yourselves killed! Did I not say that you would be burdens? That you would not survive in the wild and that you had no place amongst us?"

He advanced until he was almost face to face with the adoptive siblings, causing them to look slightly worried and frightened as they waited for him to yell at them and tell them to leave.

"I've never been so wrong in all my life!" Thorin grabbed Bilbo and Bonnie, and embraced them deeply, amidst the other Dwarves cheers and slaps on the back. Looking quite surprised, the Halflings hugged him back, as he added, "I am sorry I doubted you."

"No, I would have doubted me too," Bilbo said, as Thorin pulled back and patted them both on the shoulder. "I'm not a hero or a warrior...not even a burglar."

As everyone chuckled, the Eagles flew away, screeching, and drew their attention to behind Bilbo and Bonnie. Thorin strode forwards, a small grin on his face, and drew everyone's gaze to what he was watching.

"Is that what I think it is?" Bilbo asked as, in the distance, on the horizon, they saw the outline of a single solitary mountain.

"Erebor—the Lonely Mountain," Gandalf confirmed, coming forwards. "The last of the great Dwarf kingdoms of Middle earth."

"Our home," Thorin said, as a bird cheeped and flew by.

"A raven!" Oin called out happily, "The birds are returning to the mountain."

As more birdsong sounded, Gandalf corrected hi, "That, my dear Oin, is a thrush."

"But we'll take it as a sign a good omen," Thorin added optimistically, and Bilbo nodded in agreement.

"You're right," he said. "I do believe the worst is behind us."

They watched, silent, for a few moments, before a voice broke the air, one that had Bonnie freezing in terror.

"How did you do that, little sister?" The question Balin presented her sent her heart into a panicked frenzy, and she turned to sheepishly ask,

"How did I do what?" The Dwarves didn't look impressed, and Bonnie met Gandalf's eye, silently asking what she should do. He gave her a pointed look, obviously meaning, '_Tell the truth!'_

So, taking a deep breath, she told them, very simply, "I'm a Mage."

A few of them looked confused, mainly Ori, Kili and Fili, given they were the youngest, but the rest took a step back in surprise and wariness. Ignoring this, she continued.

"A Mage of Nature." (They looked slightly more relaxed at that.) "I'm the last of my kind, and I've been hiding because my father told me telling people could potentially mean the end of my life. He told someone once, and because of that, we had to go on the run because Azog heard and tried to kill us. After a few years, he succeeded. My father locked me in the basement with magic, so I couldn't get out until the danger was gone. It was too late for my sisters and mother.

"I'm sorry I didn't tell you. I know I should have, but at first I needed to make sure I could trust you, and once I did I didn't want to tell you because I was afraid you would abandon me. And, let's face it, I've come to love all of you as though you were my real family. I've only really had Bilbo, and I wasn't prepared to loss my brothers."

Slowly, one by one, the shocked looks disappeared, leaving a few of them with sadness, others understanding, others curiosity, and one Anger.

Bofur, who looked curious, called out, "Well, show us then, Little sister. What can you do?"

Bonnie blushed deep, took a deep breathe, before giving them another preview of her physical transformation. She changed from a bird, to a mountain lion, to a wolf, to a deer, to a rabbit, to herself again. Throughout her transformations, she heard collective gasps from all of them. But she wasn't done yet.

She threw her hands up in the air, twirling them gracefully around as she intertwined water with fire, and turned that into a small tornado that had their hair blowing every which way. Then she used her Earth ability to make the stone rise up around them, and settle back down. When it did, there was a small bunch of Wireweed Tobacco growing by her feet, which she handed over to Fili, the Dwarf giving her a small laugh and a bow in return. Each time she used one of them, her hair would change colour, before fading back to brown. She couldn't show them her conversation with trees or animals, so instead opted for keeping it secret for now.

She waited anxiously for their reaction, twisting her hands nervously.

"Amazing!"

"Brilliant!"

"You lucky lass!"

Bonnie stumbled back in surprise at the reaction, and found herself staring at a group of grinning, laughing faces. Nothing like she expected. Letting out a surprised laugh, she admitted, "I thought you'd all hate me."

"Oh no, Little Sister, we'd never," Dwalin said, coming forwards and throwing an arm around her shoulder. He grinned down at her as the other Dwarves moved forwards to comfort her and ease her worries. The only person that didn't come forwards was…Bilbo.

He stood, looking at her sternly, with arms crossed, and as she met his eye, he huffed and stomped away to sit on the edge of the Carrock. She would have followed, but Gandalf tapped her on the shoulder and shook his head.

But there was something else Bonnie had to worry about. What had happened between her and Kili? She'd never felt like that, the feeling that swooped through her at the sight of him, his face, his eyes, his mouth. She could stare at him all day every day until she died, and be satisfied with life. She could be content with death if she got to die in his arms. She would be lost if she were with anyone else.

So as the Dwarves dispersed around her, she slowly walked up to him and Fili and offered them both a small smile. They returned it, Fili already with his pipe to his lips. The Dwarves hadn't gotten a chance to relax and have a nice puff of smoke since they were back at Rivendell, and soon Bonnie found herself growing everyone's favourite pipe-weed.

It was a while later before she got to settle down herself with her favourite Passionflower Weed, and leaving her worry behind at what had happened between her and Kili for the day, she sat between her favourite Dwarves as usual, and a few hours later, was as awake as a rock.

**So the first movie is over, and onto the second. I hoped you liked that little bit right there at the end how she told them about her powers. I was going to make it so they were angry at her, or didn't trust her, but I thought it would take away from the focus that ****_Bilbo _****was angry at her, and I didn't want that. Also, you get to look forward to a scene between Kili and Bonnie, which should pop up in the next chapter of the one after that. **

**See you next time…..!**


	12. Of Flesh And Blood

**New Chapter. Just letting you know, this doesn't start off immediately at the beginning of The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug. Hope you're enjoying this. And remember that reviews equal motivation for me. So year, try to do that…**

**See you next Sunday….**

It was almost mid-day by the time all of The Company had woken the next morning. Gandalf, who had insisted to take the watch for the whole night, decided that it would not hurt to get more rest, after the ordeal they'd gone through the previous day.

But when the Dwarves did wake up, it was with loud grumbles and painful groans. They hadn't eaten in over 24 hours, and to them, that was their own personal hell. Hunger. So it was with empty stomachs that the Dwarves, Hobbit, Wizard and Mage packed up their meagre supplies and started the dangerous climb down the Carrock.

And Bonnie, who was absolutely _terrible, _at climbing anything, decided to go for the easier option that definitely would not get her killed. It was weird, given she was a Nature Mage, for her to not be able to climb trees, or mountains, for anything. Her feet and hands could just never find the purchase on the rough surface. So, to save everyone, and herself, a lot of trouble, she just jumped off the side of the Carrock with a laugh of joy, and turned mid leap into a Blackbird, before swooping down to the ground and landing with a flutter on Gandalf's shoulder, who had already reached the bottom of the Carrock.

"Light as a feather, my dear Bonnie," he told her with a small chuckle, and she chirped softly. Together, they waited patiently as the Dwarves and Hobbit climbed down the side of the Carrock, finding groves and crevices to put their hands and feet. There was a path marked out along the cliff face, Bonnie wasn't sure if it was the best, but it'd have to do.

The main priority the Dwarves had, after climbing down the Carrock safely, was food. Meaning they took that day to 'stock up' on their food supply. And Oin made it known that he needed more herbs and plants for his medical supplies, given those "Rudy Goblins had stolen his best solutions."

Bonnie changed back to her Halfling form quickly, and being extremely thankful that all possessions on her at the time would change as well, she began to aid the Dwarves in their additional quest to find food, drink and medical supplies.

Oin was very determined to find Comfrey, Burdock root, Broom and Catmint. He'd told them all that, mixed together, this poultice would make one of the strongest most reliable treatments you could possibly get. Thorin gave the very final order that it would be Ori, Balin and Bonnie that would be helping him find these medicine herbs, so it was with a sigh of annoyance that they all moved off to search through the shrubs and bushes to find them. Oin gave them all a description, and a plant each to find, and they were off.

So Bonnie pocked through the undergrowth in search of any sort of dry black soil, growing a plant with tall-stemmed thistles with a sharp smell and dark leaves. Finding it easily enough, Bonnie leant down and started rummaging through the dirt for the roots. Brushing the dirt off them, she packed them in the pockets of her ruined shirt, and turned around to face a rogue wolf.

It growled and snapped at her face, but Bonnie could tell it was alone. Abandoned, probably, given it was incredibly small (though still much bigger than her), covered in its own blood, and was on the defence rather than offence. Meeting its eye, Bonnie didn't blink, showing dominance against the poor creature. It was only a cub, and she easily won.

It growled, but after a few minutes, sank down onto its haunches and started licking a particularly nasty wound, running across the length of its flank. Bonnie, hesitating slightly, looked at the last burdock root in her hand, before moving slowly to its side and sitting down beside it. It growled softly, but knew better then to attack her. After all, she was dominant, the alpha. In its eyes anyway.

So that's why it didn't try to rip her face off when she chewed up the burdock route in her mouth and spread it over its wounds. Burdock root was good for healing rat bites and stopping bleeding. Sadly, it would not help fight infection. And by now, the cub had sensed what she was doing, and had flopped down on its side, breathing heavily.

Bonnie looked at it, and with a small grunt telling it to stay still, she jumped to her feet in search of Marigold or horsetail. Either one would do fine, so it was with a small grin that Bonnie found both, shoved them into her mouth to chew into a poultice, and spat them out onto the Wolf's wound, spreading it over the length of it to ensure no bacteria would get in and cause infection. Then she found cobwebs and pressed it over it, keeping the wound stuck together so the creature wouldn't bleed out.

All the while, the only movement it had was an occasional flick of its ears or half-hearted wag of its tail, each time telling her that it was alive, and even grateful. Though Wolves were very proud creatures, and this particular one would never admit it.

"What is keeping you, my de-?"

Bonnie jumped to her feet, taking a protective stance in front of the Wolf as she faced Gandalf. His eyes had widened slightly in pleasant surprise, before he chuckled and noted, "I see you have made a friends."

Bonnie blushed immediately as the other Dwarves came up behind them, and it only deepened when Thorin stepped forwards and asked in his deep baritone voice,

"What is the meaning of this?"

"Well –Uhh – what it is-" Bonnie started to say, but was cut off as Gandalf said,

"Well it is quite obvious, Master Dwarf, that young Bonnie has saved this poor creatures life." He turned and winked at Bonnie. "And gained a companion along the way." It was true, the cub was sitting up slightly and nosing at her clothes in the hopes of finding food.

"Well, get rid of the creature," Thorin ordered, and turned his back to walk away.

"No."

Thorin turned back to look her in the eye, and very sternly asked, "What do you plan to do with it?"

"I'll take care of it, I promise," Bonnie quickly said. "I'll catch its food, and heal its wounds, and I'll make sure it doesn't hurt anyone I don't want it too." And getting an idea, she said, "And it'll be a good guard. Its keen ears will alert us to any danger before it gets a chance to attack."

Thorin was silent for a moment, before he sighed and said, "Fine," before turning and leaving, the others trailing after him. Kili and Fili, however, remained behind, staring in awe as Bonnie leant down and allowed the Wolf to nuzzle her face with its nose.

That showed its ignorance in age, of course, trusting her so quickly. Bonnie made a small grunting noise to it, and its tail flew up and banged on the ground again. He whined happily, and slowly moving to his feet, rubbed his good side up against her in affection and trust. She smiled at her new companion, got to her feet, and started walking, Wolf padding along happily by her side. Kili and Fili jumped out of Wolf's way, slightly wary, and walked with hands on their weapons at Bonnie's side. The Mage smiled at this, knowing that Wolf would not harm them unless Bonnie wished it.

They padded silently back towards the Company's little make shift camp, and Bonnie handed over the Burdock root, Marigold and Horsetail without a single word to Oin. He too, along with everyone else, had his eyes on her and Wolf as they moved towards Bonnie's bedroll. Wolf had his ears lowered in discomfort at the accusing stares, and he stayed close to his Pack-sister's side as she sat down. Wolf quickly flopped down behind her so she was leaning against his side, and huffed once as he settled down to rest. His flank wasn't hurting anymore, and for the first time in a few days, he managed to get a good night's sleep.

Bombur was cooking up a very large meal, with rabbit, Vole, and some lovely bird eggs Nori had found by climbing a tree. The Dwarves, Hobbit and Mage had all been cheered largely at the filling meal, but when Wolf crept forwards to try and eat some of the stew, Thorin brandished his sword and chased him away.

"He can have the buck, lass," Bombur said kindly, coming up behind her with a bowl of stew in his hand. Bonnie smiled, took the stew with a friendly nod, and led Wolf over to the carcass Bifur and Gloin had taken into the woods for the scavengers, bringing her bow and quiver along with her. She'd found a couple of hazelnuts, and had crushed them to oil her bow.

Wolf lunged at the buck and started tearing strips of flesh from it, gulping it down ravenously. He didn't even stop when Bonnie sat down a couple metres away and started slurping hungrily at her stew, or when the 'Dark-fur' with his 'long-claw-that-flies-far' came and settled down by her…Kili, bringing his bow and arrow because he was on watch.

"Dwarves don't oil their bows every day," Kili said casually, his eyes on her hands as they moved the crushed hazelnut over the wood.

"That's just something I do," Said Bonnie. Lovingly, she held it up so the oiled wood gleamed. "Fa made it for me when I was seven, just after we left the Valley of Anduin. It's yew-wood, seasoned for four summers. Sapwood on its back for stretch, heartwood on its belly for strength. He made the quiver, too. Wove the wicker himself, and let me choose the decoration. A zigzag band of red and white willow."

"Hey, Bonnie?" Kili suddenly said, staring ahead.

"Yeah?"

"You know how, us Dwarves have certain…cultures, and lifestyles, and beliefs." He turned to look at her, curiosity set deep into his eyes. "Well, what do you have? What do you believe in?"

Bonnie sat back against an Oak tree. She hadn't talked about anything like this in years, since Bilbo and his parents had found her and asked all about her. _But, _she thought, _I suppose there's no harm in telling him._

"Well, I don't know a lot about it, but I guess I could start with the…Death Rites. Everyone knows them from the moment they can speak. When someone dies, or is going to die very soon, A Mage will make a paste out of red ochre, which is the dark-red blood of the earth, and draw circles on the deceased's skin. We draw a circle on each heel, to represent the Name-Soul, a circle over the heart for the Clan-Soul, and the most important, a circle on the forehead for the Nanuak, the World-Soul. We do this so, after death, our souls can recognise each other and stay together in the afterlife. The Name-Soul is important when discussing illness. It is said that if you're ill, you shouldn't see your name soul, your reflection, in the water, or you'll lose it and fall in. The Name-soul tells you who you are, and is your personality. The loss of the Name Soul after death results in the creation of a ghost, eternally seeking the family it has lost.

"The Clan-Soul tells you right from wrong, and helps to express and suppress emotions. The loss of the Clan-Soul after death results in a demon, eternally craving life. And each World-Soul is a part of the Nanuak, and provides a link to the World Soul of every other living thing. The loss of the World Soul after death would result in the creature or person becoming lost forever in the darkness behind the stars, cut off from every living thing. After death, when the souls are released from the body to begin the journey to the First Tree, they can become separated. In some creatures, such as wolves, this rarely happens due to their strong senses of smell and hearing, which help the souls stay together. Humans, however, require death marks (ochre circles daubed on the heels for the Name Soul, the breast for the Clan Soul and the forehead for the World Soul) to help the souls recognise each other and not become lost on the Death Journey.

"Souls can also become sick: depending on which soul becomes sick, the person might become something similar to a ghost, a demon, or a lost one. Magecraft is often used to heal sick souls, which my ancestors had been so practised in, it eventually became second nature, a knowledge we had passed down with no need for spells. Some of us had skills that we could do without the use of an incantation. As for me, I had many, as you know. Elemental control. Skin-changer. Tree-whisperer, Spirit Walker."

"Spirit Walker?" Kili asked, who had wide eyes at what she had just told him.

Bonnie blinked, remembering she hadn't told them, and explained, "Spirit Walking is the ability to enter another being's body whilst the user retains their own mind. People who can Spirit Walk are known as Spirit Walkers. It is an extremely rare ability, only my father and I could do it. Your World Soul stays in the body when spirit walking. The other two souls leave the body to spirit walk."

"So…Can you spirit walk into anything?" Bonnie frowned at his question, not quite knowing. She'd only ever spirit walked once, into the souls of an Oak tree. It had been consuming, the connections the trees had with the whole forest. If a leaf fell from a branch, a tree on the other side of the forest would feel it.

"Well, I'd assume so. Anything with a soul you definitely can. But it also depends on the strength of those souls that you spirit walk into. If they're strong, then it'll be much harder to gain dominance, and if you don't gain dominance, then you'll be trapped until you eventually win the fight. That's why you should never spirit walk in a person."

Bonnie paused for a moment, before continuing on.

"The World Spirit is the… God-like figure…to Mages. It is seen as all powerful. It can take on a number of forms and is often deemed as the cause for many acts, like avalanches and Earthquakes. It is said to reside on the Mountain of the World Spirit, which is where, in the First-Age, the Mages were born of the kin of Wizards, Elves and Dwarves. The World Spirit was the one to make my father and I into Spirit Walker's when we were born. The World Spirit is responsible for all things to do with Mages, and all good magical beings such as Wizards, sorcerers and many other things, though those certain races may call it different names. In the winter the World Spirit takes the form of a woman with willow hair. In the summer it looks like a man with the antlers of a stag. It is both feared and respected, and it is considered bad luck to see it."

Kili looked at her in slight confusion. "Why is it bad luck to see your deity?"

"Because, seeing the World Spirit usually means that you are close to death."

Bonnie blinked, and not wanting to end on a bad note, continued, "Also, we have Clan Guardians. My guardian is a Raven. Where I come from, far up to the North, there are Clans. Raven Clan, Wolf Clan, Viper Clan, Boar Clan, and so many more. My father was originally from Wolf Clan, whilst my mother was Raven Clan. Fa left his clan to be with my mother. Clans guardians are also not necessarily animals, and some, such as the Oak Clan and Willow Clan, were named after other living things (in this case oak and willow trees). They're there to protect their Clans, and in some cases offer Wisdom and peace."

Bonnie moved on to a different subject, one that had made her happy and sad both at the same time. "We also, in the Clans, have certain rituals. Naming rituals, cleansing rituals, Clan rituals. My favourite was the coming of age ritual, where you get your Clan Tattoo. The Clan Tattoos are a series of shapes and patterns that help to identify what Clan you're in. You get them when you come of age, on your thirtieth birth night. I was young when my father died and never went through with it though." Bonnie stroked a finger over her cheeks. "If he were alive, I would have three fine blue bars across each cheek, and a red bar under the clan tattoo for the moon bleed." She barely held back a smirk at Kili's blush.

But then surprising Kili completely, she held out her inner wrists so he could see the feint grey lightning tattoos on each wrist. "Lines of power," she explained. "To protect Mages against evil. Not everyone in the Clans in a Mage. Some are just ordinary men and women." Kili slowly took one of her wrists, and gently traced the lines with his fingers, softer than goose-feathers. "My mother gave me these the night before she died. She sensed something was going to happen, she just didn't know what."

Wolf padded over to Bonnie's side and flopped down, resting his blood stained muzzle on her knee as he closed his eyes to rest. Bonnie absentmindedly stroked his grey fur, the feeling of silk running through her fingers as she placed her food bowl to the side. Kili was silent, watching the two of them and thinking of how it appeared they'd been of the same pack for years, when really it hadn't even been a day.

o.O

Bonnie watched Wolf's body tense.

Wolf's ears flickered forwards. His black nose twitched. Bonnie followed his gaze. She couldn't see anything through the tangle of hazel and willowherb, but she knew that the buck was there, because Wolf knew it, and Bonnie had learned to trust Wolf. Wolf glanced up at Bonnie, his Amber eyes grazing the girl's. Then his gaze returned to the forest. Silently, Bonnie broke off a head of grass and split it with her thumbnail, letting the fine seeds float away on the breeze. Good. They were still downwind of the buck: It wouldn't catch their scent. And before setting out on the hunt, Bonnie had, as always, masked her smell by smearing her skin with wood-ash.

Without a sound, she drew an arrow from her quiver and fitted it to her bow. It was only a small roe buck, but if she could bring it down, it would be the first big kill she'd ever made on her own. She needed it. Prey was much scarcer than it should be this time of year.

The Cub's head sank low.

Bonnie crouched.

Together they crept forwards.

They'd been tracking the buck all day. All day, Bonnie had (To the loud complaints of the Dwarves being starving and begging her to catch something so they wouldn't have to), followed its trail of bitten-off twigs and cloven prints: trying to feel what it was feeling; guessing where it would go next.

_To track the prey, you must first learn to know it as you would a brother. What it eats, and when and how, where it rests, how it moves. _Fa had taught Bonnie well. She knew how to track. She knew that you must stop often and listen: to open your senses to what the forest is telling you…

Right now, she knew the roe buck was tiring. Earlier in the day, the cleaves of each small hoof-print had been deep and splayed, which meant it had been galloping. Now the cleaves were lighter and closer together: it had slowed to a walk. It must be hungry, because it hadn't had time to graze, and thirsty, because it had kept to the safety of the deep thickets, where there was no water. Bonnie glanced about for signs of a stream. West through the hazels, about thirty paces off the trail, she glimpsed a clump of alders. Alders only grow near water. That was where the buck must be heading. Softly, she and the cub moves through the undergrowth. Cupping her hand to her ear, she caught a faint ripple of water.

Suddenly, Wolf froze: ears rammed forwards, one forepaw raised.

_Yes. _There. Through the alders. The buck stopping to drink.

Carefully, Bonnie took aim.

The buck raised its head, water dripping from its muzzle.

Bonnie watched it snuff the air and fluff out its pale rump fur in alarm. Another heartbeat and it would be gone. She loosed her arrow. It thudded into the buck's ribs just behind the shoulder. With a graceful shudder, the buck folded its knees and sank to the ground.

Bonnie gave a shout and pushed through the undergrowth towards it. Wolf raced her and easily won, but then pulled back to let Bonnie catch up. The Cub was learning to respect the lead Wolf. Bonnie barely noticed as the Dwarves came up behind her, jogging along to see her kill.

Panting, Bonnie stood over the buck. Its ribs were still heaving, but death was near. Its three souls were getting ready to leave. Bonnie swallowed. Now she had to do what she'd seen Fa do countless times. But for her it would be the first time, and she had to get it right.

Kneeling beside the buck, she put out her hand and gently stroked its rough, sweaty cheek. The buck lay quiet under her palm. The Dwarves watched with anticipation, wondering what she was going to do.

"You did well," Bonnie told it. Her voice sounded strong, fearless. "You were brave and clever, and you kept going all day. I promise to keep the pact with the World Spirit, and treat you with respect. Now go in peace."

She watched death glaze the great dark eye.

She felt grateful to the buck, but also proud. This was her first big kill. Wherever Fa was, he would be pleased.

Bonnie turned to Wolf and put her head on one side, wrinkling her nose and baring her teeth in a wolf smile. _Well done, thank you. _Wolf pounced on Bonnie, nearly knocking her over. Bonnie laughed and gave him a handful of Lingonberries from her food pouch. Wolf snuffled them up.

It had been several days since Bonnie had found Wolf, and they'd set out with the other Dwarves from the Carrock, and there was still no sign of Orcs. No tracks, no blood snagged on brambles. No more Forest-shaking shrieks from Orcs getting punished by Azog.

Something was wrong though. At this time of year, the Forest should be echoing with the bellows of rutting red deer, and the clash of their antlers as they fought for females. But all was silence. It was as if the forest was slowly emptying; the prey fleeing from the unseen menace. In seven days the only creatures the Company had seen was birds and voles.

Bonnie didn't know what that meant, but she didn't have time to worry. Besides, she had Wolf now, here to help bring down prey for meals. With every day that passed, they understood each other better. She was coming to know that wolf talk is a complex blend of gestures, looks, smells and sounds. The gestures can be with the muzzle, ears, paws, tail, shoulders, fur, or the whole body. Many are very subtle: the merest tilt or twitch. Most do not involve sound. By now, Bonnie knew quite a lot of them, although it wasn't as if she'd had to learn them. It felt more as though she was remembering them.

Still, there was one thing she knew she'd never be able to master, because she wasn't a wolf. This is what she'd taken to calling 'wolf sense': the cub's uncanny knack of sensing her thoughts and moods. Wolf had his moods too. Sometimes he was the cub, with a puppyish love of berries and an inability to keep still: like the time he's wriggled incessantly when Bonnie had held a naming rite for him, then licked off all the red alder juice daubed on his paws. Unlike Bonnie, who'd been slightly nervous about taking part in such an important rite, Wolf had seemed unimpressed: merely impatient for it to be over.

At other times, though, he was a guide: mysteriously sure of the way they must take. But if Bonnie tried to ask him about that, he never gave much of an answer. _I just know. _That was all.

Right now, Wolf wasn't being the guide. He was being the cub. His muzzle was purple with blackberry juice, and he was yipping insistently for more.

Bonnie laughed, and batted him away. "No more! I've got work to do."

Wolf shook himself and smiled, then went off to have a sleep.

It would've taken Bonnie two whole days to butcher the carcass by herself. But luckily, she had two strapping young Dwarves to help her out. She'd made the buck a promise, and she had to keep it by not wasting a thing. That was the age-old pact between the hunters and the World-Spirit. Hunters must treat the prey with respect, and in return the Spirit would send more prey.

It was a daunting task. It takes many summers of practise, and Bonnie hadn't butchered a beast this big by herself before. With Kili's and Fili's help, she did a pretty good job of it, but they didn't follow the same beliefs as she did in making every piece of the prey count. They just did what she asked as best as they could.

First, Bonnie slit the deer's belly and cut a slip of liver for the clan guardian. The rest of the liver she cut into strips and set to dry. Then she relented and cut off a bit for Wolf, who slurped it up.

Next, Bonnie skinned the carcass, scraping the hide clean of flesh with her antler scraper. She washed the hide in water mixed with crumbled oak bark to loosen the hairs, then stretched it between to saplings – well out of Wolf's leaping range. Then she scraped off the hairs – Inexpertly, making several holes – and softened the hide with mashed deer brain. After a final round of soaking and drying, she had a reasonable skin of rawhide for rope and fishing-line.

While the hide was drying, Kili cut the meat into thin strips and hung them over a smoky birchwood fire. When they were dry, he pounded them between two stones to make them thinner, then rolled them into small, tight bundles. The meat was delicious. One little piece each would last them half a day.

The Innards Bonnie washed, soaked in oak-bark water, and draped over a juniper bush to dry. The stomach would make a waterskin, and the bladder a spare tinder pouch, the guts would store nuts. The lungs were Wolf's share – although not yet. Bonnie would chew them at daymeals and nightmeals, then spit them out for the cub. But as she had no cooking-skin for making glue, she let Wolf have the hooves straightaway. The cub played with them tirelessly before crunching them into bits.

Next, Fili and Bonnie took the long black sinews she'd saved from the butchering, pounded them flat, then teased out the narrow fibres for thread: drying them and rubbing them in fat to make them supple. They weren't nearly as smooth or even as her father's thread, but they'd do. And they were so tough that they'd outlast any clothes she sewed with them.

Finally, Bonnie scraped the antlers and long bones clean, and tied them into a bundle for splintering later into fish-hooks, needles and arrowheads.

It was late on that day by the time they'd finished. Bonnie sat by the fire, pleasantly full of the stew Bombur had made from the leftover meats, whittling a whistle from a piece of grouse bone. She needed some way of summoning the cub when he was far off on one of his solitary journeys: some way quieter than a howl. She couldn't risk any more howling.

She finished the whittling, and gave the whistle a try. To her dismay, it made no sound. Fa had carved countless whistles just like this one, and they'd always made a clear, bird-like chirp. Why didn't hers?

Frustrated, Bonnie tried again. Blowing as hard as she could. Still no sound. But to her surprise, Wold leapt up as if he had been stung by a hornet. Bonnie glanced from the silent cub to the whistle. Once more she blew on it.

Again no sound. This time Wolf gave a brief snarl, then a whine, to show that he was a bit annoyed, but didn't want to go too far and offend Bonnie.

Bonnie said sorry by gently scratching under Wolf's muzzle, and the cub slumped down. His expression made it clear: Bonnie shouldn't call unless she meant something by it.

o.O

_(AN = Italics = Wolf Talk)_

Bonnie soon came to realise that Wolves did not understand the concept of revenge. When she'd tried to explain what she was doing on this quest, it had become obvious. Wolf asked her with soft grunts what killing the Pale Orc would do, and Bonnie responded in the only way she knew. By being honest.

_The Pale-pelt hunts you?_ Wolf asked her one day, as they sat by a small stream to refill her water-skins.

_Yes,_ Bonnie replied.

_And you will kill him? _

_Yes,_ Bonnie repeated.

_Because he is bad?_ Wolf asked.

_Because he killed my pack. _

Bonnie had taken to calling her family, her pack, around Wolf. It was the only way the young Wolf would understand. She'd had to make variations like this for many things. For example, the Dwarves weren't her friends, they were her pack brothers, as Bonnie was a pack sister to Wolf.

Wolf watched a damselfly skim the water. _And when the Pale-pelt is not-breath – Does the pack breathe again?_

Bonnie sighed, and grunted, _no._

Wolf titled his head and looked at Bonnie with puzzled Amber eyes. _Then – Why?_

Because, Bonnie wanted to tell him, I want to avenge my family. But she didn't know how to say that in wolf talk, and even if she could, she didn't think Wolf would understand. Maybe Wolves didn't seek revenge.

Side by side, Bonnie and Wolf sat watching the midges darting over the brown water. Bonnie caught the flicker of a trout and watched it deeper. Wolf rubbed his newly healed flank up against Bonnie's shoulder, and Bonnie leaned against him, feeling his solid furry warmth.

**I own nothing! Okay? I own NOTHING! And for this chapter, my inspiration came from the Chronicles of ancient Darkness series by Michelle Paver. They are amazing books, you have to read them**


	13. In Times Past

**Hello again. Hope this is getting even more intriguing. I don't know why I randomly decided to throw in a wolf, but it seemed like the right thing to do. This chapter is going to be a tad different again. I own nothing, not even this chapter, because it is basically a chapter taken from one of Michelle pavers novels, just tweaked slightly to fight in with the story. I thought it described what happened to Bonnie perfectly, and I just had to use it. **

_Bonnie woke with a jolt from a sleep she was never meant to have._

_The fire had burned low. She crouched in the fragile shell of light and peered into the looming blackness of the forest. She couldn't see anything. Couldn't hear anything. Had they come back? Were they out there now, watching her with their hot, murderous eyes?_

_She felt hollow, and cold. She knew that she badly needed food, and that her arm hurt, and that her eyes were scratchy with tiredness, but she couldn't really _feel _it. All night, she'd sat listening to her family bleed. How could this be happening?_

_Only yesterday – _Yesterday – _they'd come home in the blue autumn dusk. Bonnie had made a joke, and her father was laughing. Then the forest exploded around their home. Ravens screamed. Pines crackled. And out of the dark beneath the trees surged a deeper darkness: huge rampaging menaces in Orc form. _

_Suddenly, death was upon them. Bonnie was shoved down the stairs. A whispered spell to keep her there. A frenzy of blades. A welter of sounds to make the ears bleed. In a heartbeat, the creatures had smashed their shelter to splinters. In a heartbeat, they had torn holes in Bonnie's life. Then they were gone, melting into the forest as silently as mist. _

_She climbed from the basement, now that the danger was gone, for now. She gazed around the massacre, feeling nothing. From behind her, her father moaned. Slowly, he opened his eyes, and looked at his daughter without recognition. _

_Bonnie's heart clenched. "It – It's me," she stammered. "How do you feel?"_

_Pain convulsed her father's lean brown face. His cheeks were tinged with grey, making the old scars stand out vividly. Sweat matted his long black hair. _

_His wound was so deep that as Bonnie clumsily stanched it with beard-moss, she saw her father's guts glistening in the firelight. She had to grit her teeth to keep from retching. She hoped Fa didn't notice – But of course he did. Fa was a hunter. He noticed everything. _

_"__Bonnie…" He breathed. His hand reached out, his hot fingers clinging to Bonnie's as eagerly as a child. Bonnie swallowed. Daughters clutched their father's hands; not the other way around. _

_She tried to be practical: To be a woman instead of a girl. "I've got some yarrow," she said, fumbling for her medicine pouch with her free hand. "Maybe that'll stop the-"_

_"__Keep it. You're bleeding too."_

_"__Doesn't hurt," lied Bonnie. The fall down the stairs had her dropping her knife, bruising her ribs and gashing her forearm upon landing._

_"__Bonnie – Leave. Now. Before they come back." _

_Bonnie stared at him. Her mouth opened but no sound came out. _

_"__You must," said her father._

_"__No. _No. _I can't –"_

_"__Bonnie – I'm dying, I'll be dead by sunrise."_

_Bonnie gripped the medicine pouch. There was a roaring in her ears. "Fa-"_

_"__Give me – What I need for the Death Journey. Then get your things."_

_The Death Journey. No. No. _

_But her father's face was stern. "My bow," he said. "Three arrows. You- keep the rest. Where I'm going - hunting's easy." _

_There was a tear in the knee of Bonnie's buckskin leggings. She dug her thumbnail into the flesh. It hurt. She forced herself to concentrate on that._

_"__Food," Gasped her father. "The dried meat. You – take it all."_

_Bonnie's knee had started to bleed. She kept digging. She tried not to picture her father, her family, on the death journey. She tried not to picture herself alone in the forest. She was only 25 summers old! She couldn't survive on her own! She didn't know how…_

_"__Bonnie! Move!"_

_Blinking furiously, Bonnie reached for her father's weapons, and laid them by his side. She divided up the arrows, pricking her fingers on the sharp flint points. Then she shouldered her quiver and bow and scrabbled in the shadows for her small black basalt axe. Her Hazelwood pack had been smashed in the attack; she'd have to cram everything else into her jerkin, or tie it to her belt. _

_She reached for her reindeer sleeping sack._

_"__Take mine," murmured her father. "You never did – repair yours. And swap knives."_

_Bonnie was aghast. "Not your knife! You'll need it!"_

_"__You'll need it more. And – It'll be good to have something of yours on the Death Journey." _

_"__Fa, please. Don't-"_

_In the Forest, a twig snapped. _

_Bonnie spun around._

_The darkness was absolute. Everywhere she looked the shadows were Orc-shaped. _

_No wind._

_No Birdsong._

_Just the crackle of the fire and the thud of her heart. The forest itself was holding its breath._

_Her father licked the sweat from his lips. "They're not here yet," he said. "Soon. They will come back for me soon…Quick. The Knives!"_

_Bonnie didn't want to swap knives. That would make it final. But her father was watching her with an intensity that allowed no refusal. _

_Clenching her jaw so hard that it hurt, Bonnie took her own knife and put it in Fa's hand. Then she untied the buckskin sheath from her father's belt. Fa's knife was beautiful and deadly, with a blade of blue slate shaped like a willow leaf, and a haft of red deer antler that was bound with elk sinew for a better grip. As Bonnie looked down at it, the truth hit her. She was preparing for a life without Fa, without her family. _

_"__I'm not leaving you!" she cried. "I'll fight them, I-" _

_"__No! No one can fight the Pale-Orc! Do not search for him! Now listen to me," her father hissed. "Take the knife. And run, as fast as you can. Don't reveal what you are, unless your life depends on it, and run. To Eastfarthing woods. There, you will find peace, and safety. Swear it. Swear on my knife!"_

_Bonnie forgot to breathe. Then nodded._

_She knelt and picked up the knife. It was heavy: A man's knife, too big for her. Awkwardly, she touched it to the wound on her forearm, then to her forehead, then to her heart. In an unsteady voice, she took her oath. "I swear, by the blood on this blade, and my three soul, that I will never reveal what I am, less my life depends on it, and run."_

_"__Good. Good. Now, put the marks on me. Hurry. The Orcs – Not far off."_

_Bonnie felt the salty sting of tears. Angrily, she brushed them away. "I haven't got any ochre," she mumbled. _

_"__Take – Mine."_

_In a blur, Bonnie found the little Antler-tine medicine horn that had been her mothers. In a blur, she yanked out the black oak stopper and shook some of the red ochre into her palm. _

_Suddenly, she stopped. "I can't."_

_"__You can. For me."_

_Bonnie spat into her palm and made a sticky paste of the ochre, the dark-red blood of the earth, then drew small circles on her father's skin that would help the souls recognise each other and stay together after death. _

_Firstly, as she gently as she could, she removed her father's beaver-hide boots, and drew a circle on each heel to mark the Name-Soul. Then she drew another circle over the heart to mark the Clan-Soul. This wasn't easy, as her father's chest was badly scarred from an old wound, so she only managed a lop-sided oval. She hoped it would be good enough. Last, she made the most important mark of all: A circle on the forehead to mark the Nanuak, the World-Soul. By the time she'd finished, she was swallowing tears._

_ "__Better," murmured her father. But Bonnie saw with a clutch of terror that the pulse in his throat was growing weaker. _

_"__You can't die!" Bonnie burst out._

_Ravens flew up from the trees._

_Her father gazed at her with pain and longing._

_"__Fa, I'm not leaving you, I-"_

_"__Bonnie, you swore an oath." Again he closed his eyes. Her father breathed out. "Now – You – Take my pipe, and Medicine Horn. I won't need it anymore. Take your things. Fetch me water from the river. Then – go."_

_I will _not _cry, Bonnie told herself as she rolled up her father's sleeping sack and tied it across her back; jammed her axe into her belt; stuffed her medicine pack inside her jerkin. She got to her feet and cast about for her water skin; it was ripped to shreds. She'd have to carry water back in a dock leaf. She was about to go when her father murmured her name._

_Bonnie turned. "Yes, Fa?"_

_"__Remember. When you're hunting, look behind you. I – always tell you." He forced a smile. "You always – forget. Look behind you – Yes?"_

_Bonnie nodded. She tried to smile back. Then she blundered through the wet bracken towards the stream. _

_The light was growing, and the air smelt fresh and sweet. Around her the trees were bleeding: oozing golden pine-blood from the slashes the Orcs had inflicted. Some of the tree spirits were moaning quietly in the dawn breeze._

_Bonnie reached the stream, where mist floated above the bracken, and willows trailed their fingers in the cold water. Glancing quickly around, she snatched a dock leaf and moved forwards, her boots sinking into the soft red marsh._

_She froze._

_Besides her right foot was the track of an Orc. A bare foot: Twice the size of her head, and so fresh she could see the points where it's long vicious claws had bitten deep into the mud._

'Look behind you, Bonnie.'

_She spun around. _

_Willows. Alder. Fir._

_No Orcs._

_A raven flew down on a nearby bough, making her jump. The bird folded its stiff black wings and fixed her with a beady eye. Then it jerked its head, croaked once, and flew away. _

_Bonnie stared in the direction it seemed to indicate._

_Dark yew. Dripping spruce. Dense. Impenetrable._

_But deep within – no more than ten paces – a stir of branches. Something was in there. Something huge. She tried to keep her panicky thoughts from skittering away, but her mind had gone white. She forced herself to stay still. Don't run. Don't run. Maybe they don't know you're here._

_A low hiss. Again the branches stirred. _

_She heard the stealthy rustle as the creatures moved towards the shelter; towards her father. She waited rigid as they passed. Coward! She shouted inside her head. You let it go without even trying to save Fa!_

_But what could you do? Said the small part of her brain that could still think straight. Fa knew this would happen. That's why he sent you for water. He knew it was coming for him…_

_"__Bonnie!" Came her father's wild cry. "Run!"_

_Crows burst from the trees. A roar shook the forest – on and on till Bonnie's head was splitting._

"Fa!"_ she screamed._

"Run!"

_Again the forest shook. Again came her father's cry. Then suddenly it broke off. _

_Bonnie jammed her fist into her mouth. _

_Through the trees, she glimpsed great black shadows in the wreck of the shelter._

_She turned and ran. _

_o.O_

_Bonnie crashed through the alder thickets and sank to her knees in bogs. Birch trees whispered of her passing, and she begged them not to tell the Orcs. The wound in her arm burned, and with each breath her bruised ribs ached savagely, but she did not dare stop. The forest was full of eyes. She pictured the Orcs coming after her. She ran on. She startled a young boar grubbing up pignuts, and grunted a quick apology to ward off an attack. The boar gave an ill-tempered snort and let her pass. A Wolverine snarled at her to _stay away, _and she snarled back as fiercely as she could, because Wolverine's only listen to threats. The Wolverine decided she meant it, and shot up a tree._

_To the east, the sky was wolf grey. Thunder growled. In the stormy light, the trees were a brilliant green. Rain in the mountains, thought Bonnie numbly. Watch out for flash floods. She forced herself to think of that – to push away the horror. It didn't work. She ran on._

_At last, she had to stop for breathe. She collapsed against an Oak tree. As she raised her head to stare at the shifting green leaves, the tree murmured secrets to itself, shutting her out. _

_For the first time in her life, she was truly alone. She didn't feel part of the forest anymore. She felt as if her world-soul had snapped its link to all other living things: tree and bird, hunter and prey, river and rock. Nothing in the whole word knew how she felt. Nothing wanted to know. _

_The pain in her am ripped her from her thoughts. From her medicine pouch she took the last scraps of birch bast, and roughly bandaged the wound. Then she pushed herself off the tree, and looked around._

_She'd grown up in this part of the forest. Every slope, every glade was familiar. In the valley to the west was the Redwater: Too shallow for canoes, but good fishing in the spring, when the salmon come up from the sea. To the east, all the way to the edge of the deep forest, lay the vast sunlit woods where the prey grow fat in autumn, and berries and nuts are plentiful. To the south were moors where the reindeer eat moss in winter._

_Fa said that the best thing about this part of the forest was that so few people came here. Maybe the odd party of Elves or Rangers from the west by the sea, or the rare Dwarves and Men from the East, but they never stayed long. They simply passed through the forest, hunting freely as everyone did in Eriädor, and unaware that Bonnie and her family hunted there too._

_Bonnie had never questioned that before. It was how she'd always lived: Alone with Fa, and Ma, and Morgana, and Thea, her sisters, away from the Big and Little Folk. Now, though, she longed for people. She wanted to shout; to yell for help._

_But Fa had warned her to stay away from them._

_Besides, shouting might draw the Orcs. _

_The Orcs._

_Panic rose in her throat. She pushed it down. She took a deep breath and started to run again, more steadily this time, heading north-west. As she ran, she picked up signs of prey. Elk tracks, Auroch droppings. The sound of a Forest Horse moving through the bracken. The Orcs hadn't frightened them away. At least, not yet. _

_So had her father been wrong? Had his wits been wandering at the end?_

_"__Your Fa's mad!" The children had taunted Bonnie five summers ago, when she and Fa had journeyed to a large kingdom by the name of Gondor to get a few supplies you just couldn't make from the forest, or their powers. It was the first time Bonnie had ever been out of Eriädor, and it had been a disaster. Fa had never taken her again. _

_"__They say he swallowed the breath of a ghost," the children had sneered. "That's why he left his town and lives on his own with his mad wife."_

_Bonnie had been furious. She would've fought them all if her father hadn't come along and hauled her off. "Bonnie, ignore them," Fa had laughed. "They don't know what they're saying."_

_He'd been right, of course._

_But was he right about the Orcs?_

_Up ahead, the trees opened into a clearing. Bonnie stumbled into the sun – and into a stench of rottenness. _

_She lurched to a halt._

_The Forest Horses lay where the Orcs had tossed them like broken playthings. No scavenger had dared feed on them. Not even flies would touch them. They looked like no Orc kill Bonnie had ever seen. When a normal Orc hunts, it peels back the hide of its prey and takes the innards and hind parts, then caches the rest for later. Like any other hunter, it wastes nothing. But these Orcs had ripped no more than a single bite from each carcass. They hadn't killed for hunger. They had killed for fun._

_At Bonnie' feet lay a dead foal, its small hooves still crusted with river clay from its final drink. Her gorge rose. What kind of creatures slaughter an entire herd? What kind of creatures kill for pleasure?_

_She remember the Pale-orcs eyes, glimpsed for one appalling heartbeat. She'd never seen such eyes. Behind them lay nothing but endless rage and a hatred of all living things. The hot, churning chaos of Mordor._

_But of course, Fa was right. This wasn't an Orc. This was a demon. It would kill and kill until the forest was dead. _

No one can fight the Pale-Orc, _Her father had said. Did that mean the forest was doomed? And why did she, Bonnie, have to go to Eastfarthing woods? _

_Her father's voice echoed in her mind. _You will find peace, and safety.

_How? When?_

_Bonnie felt the glade and plunged back into the shadows beneath the trees. Once again, she began to run. She ran forever. She ran until she could no longer feel her legs, and kept running. But at last, she reached a long, wooded slope and had to stop: Doubled up, chest heaving. Suddenly, she was ravenous. She fumbled for her food pouch – and groaned in disgust. Too late, she remembered the neat bundles of dried deer meat, forgotten at the shelter. _

_Bonnie, you fool! Messing things up on the first day alone! Alone._

_It wasn't possible. How could Fa, how could Ma, be gone? Gone forever? How could she never see her sisters teasing faces again?_

_Gradually, she became aware of a feint mewing coming from the other side of the hill. There it was again. Some young animal crying for its mother. _

_Her heart leapt. Oh, thank the Spirit! An easy kill. Her belly tightened at the thought of fresh meat. She didn't care what it was. She was so hungry she could eat a bat. _

_Bonnie dropped to the ground and crept through the birch trees to the top of the hill. She looked down onto a small sparse forest through which ran a small, swift river. She recognised it: The Fastwater. Further West, Fa, Ma, and their daughters often camped in summer to gather lime-bark for rope-making. _

_A breeze sprang up._

_At the same time, what she had mistaken for an animal calling its parents, a Hobbit calling for its parents, turned at looked at her. He giggled, and kept giggling, until Bonnie let out a wary sigh, and sank to her knees, before falling forwards in a faint. _

And the same Bonnie, in the distant future, far away from there, woke with a shriek, waking everyone in sight.

**Hey, I know this chapter was different, I just wanted to give a little insight into what happened to Bonnie and her family all of those years ago. Okay, anyway, remember to read and review, and that I own nothing and nobody but Bonnie. This chapter and a few small parts in the other chapter belong to Michelle Paver, and the rest to J.R.R. Tolkien.**

**See you next Sunday….**


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